Yes, I forgot to mention that I do that as well. Calling first is fine by me if that means I’ll save over 400.– per year. But there are variants where TelMed creates a treatment plan that you have to follow. That’s a no-go for me, so I’ll stick to the ones where they require you to let them propose a plan, but you are not required to follow it.
General practicioner models are out of the question as well, I’m paying all my medical bills myself (barely any visits anyway, and max deductible), so I’m deciding myself if I feel like going to a specialist. And they’re not cheaper than TelMed anyway most of the time.
In the past, I could just call them to tell them what doctor I’ve made an appointment with and why. A few years ago they started to be really annoying, telling me that’s not how it works and that they’ll decide what the next steps are. But it was also highly dependent on who you were connected to. Some were still like “sure, noted, thanks, bye”.
And last week, my partner had to call them twice, and both times waited almost half an hour until someone picked up the phone.
I had good experience.
What I realized is that if you properly make a case they agree to most suggestions. If its on the brink, spice it up a bit so it becomes a no brainer.
Of course only makes sense if you have some knowledge of whats going on in your body.
Btw: I have a plan where I have to follow their guidance. But so far they always agreed to my proposed solution, so I stick with that, because cheaper.
How can some (KPT win.win) phone consultations to get a specialist appointment confirmation/permission be free, and some be charged (Assura Qualimed)?
How many “telmeds” are there and is that not standardised?
AFAIK, no its not standardized.
Besides ‘tel’ (ephone) doctors you now also sometimes have the options of online chat. That makes sense e.g. for skin issues.
I think insurers like KPT or Sympany offer those options, often as one of their cheapest policies (winwin, flexhelp24).
How much will you saved by year by selecting Qualimed ?
PharmMed is way less restrictive for the choice of the specialist.
I received a reminder by Assura last week because we forgot to send the delegation letter for the dermatologist my son visited this summer. We still got refunded. I printed few delegations letter for the end of the year just in case.
Yes that might be possible, you still have to do your due diligence by checking on the insurance website the one you would chose. But I find that’s still a good starter for making a decision.
Any experience with Concordia? It is the cheapest but for just a bit more I could start with Assura Pharmed which is fantastic: they pay fast and everything can be managed through the app.
If Concordia still requires sending letter and are slow, I think I’m staying with Assura. Thoughts?
I’ve been with them for two years and have nothing negative to report. While their app is not as good as those from CSS or Helsana, it is functional and allows for easy submission of invoices and supporting documents. They are known for requesting documentation if psychotherapy exceeds 9 sessions, but I haven’t encountered this myself. As for the price, I find their offer quite fair, and I chose them over Assura due to their reputation.
Assura Qualimed is the cheapest for me, after I also got a ~11% increase with KPT. From what I understand, I have to either go to the house doctor or call Medgate, but then things seem to get complicated with BetterDoc recommending 3 specialists, and I’d need to pick one of those 3. Not sure I like that.
I have just switched (as I do almost every year) to get a 1% discount vs an announced 17% increase.
I now also technically have to follow their recommendations, instead of just listening to the recommendations beforehand. But if you read the AGBs, typically the consequence of not following is a simple reminder, and only after the second time they switch you to the higher standard premium the following months. In other words an easy risk to accept, because if you are sick and really don’t like their recommendation you may still just ignore it.
Interesting. My current and future insurance (Sumiswalder) was the cheapest for 2024. It is now the second cheapest for 2025. Not worth a change.
I always imagined that the cheaptest insurance for the past year would increase slightly for the future year. A 1% dicsount compared to 17% increase much more substantial than what I imagined.
I have max deductible and always ask the doctor’s offices to send me the bill directly. I often forget or “forget” to call first, but as I have to pay for everything myself anyway, the insurance doesn’t get wind of it.
You still need those bills to be accepted by insurance against your 2500 deductible right ? Because if you get seriously sick and the expenses become huge you end up sending the insurance company the copies bill you paid months ago.
Which is fine, no? If you realize that you go over the 2500 in one year, you can provide those bills (and deal with the issues about not following their recommendation). Could be that there are some regulations of max. notice period, but I wouldn’t know of them…?
I don’t do this myself, as so far I always got them to recommend what I want, but in theory I don’t see a problem with @assemblyrequired strategy.
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increase.