Each healthcare provider offers from 5 to 15 complementary health insurance plans.
To complete the limited compulsory LAMal public health insurance scheme all health insurance providers offer complementary health insurance whose legal base is the LCA (LCA is the acronym of the French term, Loi sur le Contrat d’Assurance).
These complementary plans based on the LCA either:
- Improve and complete existing LAMal coverage
- Cover incidents not covered by LAMal
- Provide the free choice of hospital or private clinic
- Improve comfort (single or double room facilities)
- Provide the free choice of doctor or surgeon in case of an operation
- Improve accident coverage
- Offer allowances in case of death and invalidity
- Offer daily sickness allowance coverage
- Reduce or eliminate wait times for medical visits and surgery
Unlike the obligatory public LAMal plan, the complementary plans based on the LCA are private insurance products. This means the insurance providers can refuse complementary coverage, establish “reserves” on existing medical conditions and request medical check-ups before acceptance.
A medical questionnaire must be completed before subscribing to a plan. Companies are demanding when it comes to clients with pre-existing conditions. To be fully covered in Switzerland you must therefore be in perfect health! Welcome to the only healthcare system in the world that does not have an abyssal deficit!
