I'm with SWICA (and I'm on the HMO plan). But I haven't had much interaction with them since I changed plans last year.

But I have a lot of (Swiss) colleagues who are also with SWICA and they claim it's a good choice.

The HMO-plan requires me to visit one of their health-centers instead of my local doctor. This is a concept that people from Eastern Europe may be more familiar with.

The nearest health-center is just 5 minutes from my work-place, so it's no concern for me.

This year, they raised the monthly rate for the HMO-plan to a level that's almost what it was with "normal" insurance a year ago.

Probably, health-care plans are going to get more expensive every year anyway - when people try to change to lower-cost plans, insurers will just raise prices the next year (they have to break even after

...all).

;-)

Thanks so much Reiner! It is always good to know firsthand impressions. We will though opt for Favorit Telmed plan and keep our fingers crossed that they will not increase the prices by 30% like our current insurer did last year...

I am with Assura for almost 15 years and I never had a problem with them (I was before with Swica). I know that they are among the cheapest (it is why I made the choice to move) and I do not intend to change.

well, as long as you need simply the basic health insurance there are no differences among the several companies on the market, apart how fast they reimburse you the money ... go to comparis and choose the cheapest ... just take care about the franchise that in your case, because you are a woman, I would suggest to choose at 300 chf. Since I'm in Switzerland I changed health insurance 3 times ... didn't notice any difference regarding my health ... The story is different if you need a complimentary insurance. In this case there are huge differences among the several insurance companies, regarding services, prices and so on.

Here is the site

http://en.comparis.ch/krankenkassen/default.aspx

Even if there s no difference in terms of coverage when you deal with basic insurance between compagny, I will divide insurance health care compagny into 2 groups :

. one which provide the pharmacie cards, that you don t need to pay your medecine at pharmacy, just show your insurance cards then the insurance send you the bill after ( deduct what they have to refund) for payment. Helsana, groupe mutuel, swica belong to this group

-one you have to pay then to claim back for the money. Assura, Css, supra..

You will be reimburs exactly  same but in terms of practice, the card can be usefull.

watch out with Assura, even if they are the cheapest( in geneva) their targets are  wealthy people...

Thanks! It's good to know that you have stayed with them for such a long time. Encouraging!  

Thank you all! We have changed basic insurance 3 times in 4 years. Originally with Intras/CSS - huge disappointment in terms of service and reimbursement (10 months to take care of 1 bill?!?!), then Vivacare - they are excellent, though much more expensive. Used both comparis.ch and bonus.ch to narrow down to 4 companies with Telmed service. Even though everyone says SWICA is expensive, we would be getting the most savings with them (highest deductible.) Thanks again for your input and your opinions!!!

you will change again in 3-4 years, because the system is made like that... :)