International health insurance

I will be relocating to a country with a relatively high inflation rate and would prefer to be insured by a Swiss health insurance company which pay out benefits in hard Swiss francs. I also want to keep the same coverage I get in Switzerland (or something close to it). Are there any Swiss health insurance companies that provide international insurance for people living outside of Switzerland?

Yes, there are a number of Swiss insurance companies that specialize in international health insurance. You can get more info here:

/en/swiss-international-health-insurance-comparison

Hi, 

I took out a new insurance policy in 2019 through my parent's employer (this is provided for staff and family members at a very cheap rate) but the international insurance from my parent did not confirm that I was insured and I had unknown outstanding bills with the local insurance therefore, I could not cancel it. And in ignorance I kept paying for both insurance and never claimed twice on a bill. 

Fast forward January 2020 my local insurance requested for a certificate of insurance from the international insurance since I wanted to cancel it and logically they sent a certificate showing that I was insured from 2019. At this point I was not aware that I could not have double health insurance policies in Switzerland. And now its becoming a bit messy and do not know how to best to deal with this as I want to avoid at all cost a legal battle. 

What can I do now? 

Please advice and thank you advance. 

Hi Nana21,

If you are not Swiss, are a student in Switzerland, and have health insurance which is equivalent to Swiss compulsory health insurance, then you can get a waiver of compulsory Swiss health insurance in many cantons. You can find detailed information here: Health Insurance for Foreign Students in Switzerland

If you had two Swiss compulsory health insurance policies, avoiding double insurance and getting reimbursed for unnecessary premiums would be pretty straightforward. See this forum: Is double mandatory Swiss health insurance possible?

International health insurance is a supplementary (voluntary) health insurance. It only replaces compulsory health insurance once it has been accepted as equivalent. You have every right to have both a compulsory health insurance and supplementary health insurance, and to pay for both.

What this means in your case is that you did not do anything wrong in having both compulsory health insurance and supplemental health insurance (the international insurance). Your Swiss healthcare bills would by default be covered by your Swiss insurance provider. You can also claim on your supplemental insurance in keeping with its terms and conditions.

Once your international health insurance has been validated by the relevant cantonal authority, you can migrate from your current compulsory health insurance to your international health insurance. You will have to give notice and terminate your Swiss compulsory health insurance policy in keeping with official insurance terms before you can move to your "new" insurance provider (the eligible international insurance policy).

Best regards from Moneyguru

More on this topic:
Guide to terminating compulsory Swiss health insurance

Finding the best international health insurance company is one of the most important steps when planning your move abroad. 

100% agreed, especially if you are moving to a country without good public healthcare.