You can get an international health coverage for emergencies from TCS Livret ETI for about 250CHF/year
TCS ETI
That said, the cost is similar to a basic complimentary health insurance (EG: CSS myFlex Outpatient ) that includes emergencies abroad and will also cover many other health related things in Switzerland (see list).
good point, always read the conditions…
This is very close to misleading advertising, in the summary is stated:
Frais de guérison à l’étranger, illimité
. Aucune limite d’âge, aucune exclusion.
And instead in the CGA 1.16 Exclusions générales you can read that a preexisting condition is excluded.
I have read the terms and conditions for dozens of travel insurance and also called a few for clarifications. Based on my experience, I can confidently state that having your travel health insurance covered by your primary Swiss health insurance is the best money you can spend if you’re a travel affecionado.
Trying to optimize fifty-sixty francs annually is not worth the risk at all. I am not even convinced if there is any saving especially if you have an annual travel policy. Just like you shouldn’t mix your investments with insurances, you shouldn’t mix your health insurance with travel insurance, if possible. Not to mention, the last thing you want to do in middle of a health emergency in a different country is to deal with two different insurances and two different set of policies. Just my two cents. Shrugs
You can get a travel insurance from your health insurance. I’m not sure how they will then behave. I’ve read one and they also don’t include preexisting conditions. I wonder if it’s the same for the complementary insurance and also if they really mean things like high pressure etc.
You are a bit contradictory there, or am I misunderstanding?
To add to the topic - I am with Swica and have their Optima/Top/Praeventa package (gym, dental hygiene, massage and preventive stuff covered, alongside treatment abroad and some more).
I could have phrased that slightly differently. However, I don’t want to go further into it. I have done my research and read all the fine prints. If someone thinks that they are better served with a travel insurance for emergency medical needs abroad, then I can only hope that they have also done their homework.
Also, lifestyle matters here. For me traveling is my main discretionary spending. It is also my main motivator for FI. Any uncertainty in the form of insurances is not an acceptable risk, especially for a potential real saving of less than 100 francs a year. If you have an annual travel insurance plan with a medical component from a well-known insurer, the actual savings are significantly less (if any at all).
I agree with you on that, but your 2 statements were not clear.
First you said that the travel (health) insurance paired with your existing health insurance (which I also have) is the way to go.
Then in the second quote you stated you shouldn’t “mix” the two.
That’s why I got confused at what you are actually suggesting. 
I see. I don’t consider worldwide coverage by krankenkasse as mixing travel insurance. I should have not used the word “travel” in that sentence. Basically, krankenkasse is covering all your emergency health needs regardless of location.
Travel insurance is for cancelling holidays, baggage loss, and other such things. I consider this to be not as reliable of an insurance as they come with a long list of exclusions. So definitely don’t recommend mixing medical insurance with it, unless you don’t have the option to go with krankenkasse.
Clear now.
I agree using “travel” was a bit confusing to me, more like “emergency/health-related stuff abroad”. 
I have my travel cancellation insurance separately (with Axa).
And the luggage related stuff is I believe in my household package (with electronics and sports
equipment).
Some people get it via their (fancier) credit cards too.
I tried to calculate whether that makes sense (with extra fees etc.), but didn’t to me.
Complementary need read all carefully and compare. Some have very light coverage or very limited in time or pay you like 20.-/day but it’s nothing.
I would like to revive this topic and ask for your help. I met recently with an Assura salesman and he tried to sell me some complimentary insurance. He presented me some scare stories of possible expensive treatments that are not under the obligatory insurance. I didn’t really trust his judgement so I would like to ask you.
Which complimentary insurance is it really worth having? Please keep in mind, that my mindset is the following: I only want to insure against huge expenses. I do not care if I suddenly have to pay 10k, I can afford it. The insurance company has to make money, so these premiums will of course make you pay more than you receive on average. It is tempting to think “oh I only pay 30 per month, and then when something happens, I will receive 10k”, but that’s not what I want to insure against.
So, again, what potential loopholes may there be in the mandatory insurance, that are worth mending? The guy suggested taking a halb-privat insurance and the worldwide insurance. He also said, with basic insurance you will have no say in who gets to make a surgery on you, for example it could be a beginner or someone with bad reputation. A complimentary insurance gives you this right. I have, however, no idea which doctor is good and which bad, I’m a foreigner with no contacts in healthcare system.
I only have the ones which include what directly benefits me, and which financially “pay off”.
Those are (for now) mostly preventative items, such as co-coverage of:
Everything else was pretty irrelevant thus far, but there are things such as eyeglasses, vaccination, psychologist, etc.
The package costs me around 30-35 CHF/month, so nothing to lose sleep over.
Even the world wide insurance I understood that they would pay for all treatments according to the Swiss prices and only the excess is not covered. And iiuc besides the US there are not many countries with more expensive health care than Switzerland. The point with the no selection for doctors is true.
I personally have complimentary for my wife for free hospital selection (outside of home canton, which was specifically for the birth of our son appreciated when we went to Nidwalden instead of Zug and got a room for ourselves and the ability for me to stay there over night for 80.- Fr.). And for my son the dental insurance which can only be setup before 3 years old w/o any dental history.
I don’t have any complimentary insurance, I used to have the glasses covered however they only pay 100.- Fr. every 3 years or so and that was less than the insurance did cost.
But I also have a gym and massages for free at work… not like I could use them at this point.
PS: Was the guy called Charles/Charly by any chance?
I’ll be with Assura in 2021 and I took their “COMPLEMENTA EXTRA” which cover all I need :
And I took the “MONDIA PLUS” as I was used to travel a lot and their insurance is quite interesting in comparison to Groupe Mutuel, and they cover worldwide with no limit.
However, it will truly depends on yourself and how much you are ok to pay for your health. A friend of mine was really happy to take his complementary insurance two years before he’s got a leucemia.
Someone on this thread that the health insurances pays 50% of the costs, the rest is paid by the confederation. This means that abroad they’d pay 50% of the same operation’s cost in switzerland. Still a lot apart for USA/Candata/Japan or something.
I’ve read about some super rare health problem that isn’t paid, but I think it’s like winning the lottery. Rare.
Leucemia for example isn’t rare, I suppose it’s fully paid by the basic health insurance.
The only thing that might be interesting is the choice of doctor. But at the end I think that it’s a lottery anyway. You can always have the old and experienced doctor that make a mistake since he’s used doing it and the young doctor that’s nervous and study your case to avoid making mistakes on his first operation.
Just to be clear what the options are:
the denta is unclear to me…dental hygiene in it? with a deductible of 500chf??
So I spoke to the guy. DENTA PLUS means that you cover 500 of treatment yourself, and the rest is covered by the insurance. Moreover, starting from the 2nd year, you get a 80 CHF deduction (or voucher) for plaque removal. So if you go each year and it costs 100 CHF, you will only pay 20 CHF.
I think I will take the COMPLEMENTA EXTRA, MONDIA PLUS and DENTA PLUS. The reason is, I don’t want to be surprised when the bad day comes, and some stuff is not covered. Plus, I’m very wary of my teeth.
The OPTIMA VARIA is the most expensive one of the lot. The halb-privat / privat is just comfort, I guess I can live without it. And if I really cannot stand the big room, I can pay extra for the smaller room. But what I don’t get is this “free choice of specialists”. He said that you can get an unexperienced doctor and you can do nothing about it. I wouldn’t know which doctor is good or bad, so it seems to me like I pay a lot of money and in the end don’t know what I get for it.
Here’s the total calculated cost for 2021:
Apparently, if you have a privat (or halb-privat) you will get more access to the senior doctors. It is really hard to judge the value of this. However, the level of care you get at the hospital has a huge impact on your overall health and recovery. The number of cases where your health deteriorates due to poor care can still be surprisingly high.
But, you can also pay for these solutions out of pocket.
