General FAQ's

International health insurance plans always cover illness and accidents. This includes planned and emergency treatments.

Most providers offer monthly, quarterly, semi-annual and annual payments. Note, however, that from half-year payment, most require a credit card. Annual payments can also be made by bank transfer. Most providers will offer a discount for a yearly payment, which we encourage.

This always depends on the provider. Here are the most important providers at a glance:

• CIGNA 100 years
• AXA PPP 99 years
• Bupa 80 years
• Well Away 80 years
• Now Health International 79 years
• Aetna 79 years
• Globality 75 years
• Morgan Price 75 years
• Allianz Worldwide Care 75 years
• Best Doctors 74 years
• Williams Russell 70 years
• A Plus International 69 years
• Well Away New American ACA 65 years
• CIGNA ACA 65 years

Medical expenses are billed on a "pay and claim" basis. A guarantee of payment is required for inpatient treatment. For more information on the guarantee of payment please look up that question.

Usually, a one-year contract is required but some insurers will give you the option to cancel midterm with a 7 or 30-day notice. Keep in mind that if a claim has been reimbursed during that time, you will not get any refund of your remaining premium for that year even if you cancel midterm.

The PDF with a digital signature or a scan of the physical copy (don’t forget to physically sign) will be completely sufficient, no original is needed.

The time taken to process the application may vary from each customer or case. The more questions, the insurer has, regarding past or existing health issues, the longer it will take to come to a final conclusion. It is therefore important to answer the questions as accurately as possible and to give as many details of your diagnoses/medication (e.g. name or dosage) to the insurer. Usually, it can take between 2 - 7 days. Exceptions are the rule. But we try our best to make it as quick as possible.

Of course, should you have supplemental insurance you will be transferred to the international insurance as fast as possible, thanks to the free vesting agreement we have in place.

If you have supplementary insurance, we can have you transfer to Now Health or CIGNA without a health check, thanks to our CPME transfer. All we need is for you to fill in the application form and send us a copy of your supplementary cover policy.

Please note that existing exclusions will remain when transferring to your new plan

All insurers pricing is based on the principle of shared liability. This means that the risk of the portfolio is borne by all of the policyholders.

Depending on the provider you can pick a deductible/franchise that may start at zero and/or go up to USD 50’000. They are applied per person and year. Exact information can be found in the customer handbook of the respective provider.

Taking up our services is free of charge. We work closely with the insurer of your choosing on a commission basis. The commissions we earn are calculated and already included on the basic premium you pay to the insurer. Please take into account that taxes are not included in the basic premium. They are calculated separately.

Most insurance documents are in English, but there are exceptions where languages such as French, Spanish, and German are also represented.

Since we’re going to be your main point of contact, we can offer you German, French, Italian, English, and Spanish via phone and email. To make sure you’re always supported whether questions arise or there’s a language barrier. If you call outside our opening hours, e.g. in the event of an emergency, most insurers have a multilingual international team that can help you in the most difficult situations.

For that kindly check the back of your insurance card, all insurers have their emergency numbers listed there.

We are first and foremost your contact partner. We will help you with renewals, processing claims, guarantees of payment when you need to go to the hospital and general inquiries. Outside opening hours and in emergencies, you can contact the insurer directly.

For that kindly check the back of your insurance card, all insurers have their emergency numbers listed there.

Yes, some provider will offer it.

Unfortunately, this is not possible unless you can prove that your international protection has the same coverage as the compulsory Swiss basic insurance (KVG). As most international insurances cannot meet the requirements, the Swiss authorities will refuse your exemption.

It can differ depending on the insurer/provider:

Bupa:

• Worldwide cover

CIGNA:

• Worldwide incl. USA
• Worldwide excl.USA

Now Health:

• Worldwide incl. USA
• worldwide excl.USA
• (Africa, Indian Sub-Continent, Jordan, Lebanon, and the Philippines)
• Europe

Should you travel a zone that is not on your cover, you’ll be covered for emergencies nonetheless.

Most providers/insurers offer the most common currencies such as USD, EUR, GBP. Some of them offer even local currencies depending on countries you’re staying in, for example, UAE or China.

Most insurers work with provider networks. These networks allow them to negotiate significantly better rates for you. We recommend that you contact us or the insurer you have chosen, before booking inpatient treatment whenever possible. This allows them to work directly with the hospitals on a case-by-case basis, to help with any queries, to agree on the cost with the treatment facility and to provide confirmation of eligible payment. The closer they work with the hospitals and doctors, the better they are able to build relationships and help contain medical inflation.

You still have the freedom to choose any recognised hospital, clinic, doctor or specialist you prefer.

REGA is not an insurer, it is a foundation. You might benefit from better conditions when it comes to their services, but that won’t guarantee a full cover. Therefore it only offers limited evacuation benefit and cannot be used in every situation. To avoid receiving high bills that no one will cover, we advise to always take out a proper evacuation option that can be implemented in your international plan.

Based on the plan you have chosen and once the premium has been paid and received by the insurer, you will then receive your insurance card by postal mail. Some providers now also offer the option to only have a digital insurance card that you will be able to save on the wallet app of your smartphone.

Yes, usually you will have access to treatments in your home country. However, the length of the stay and/or treatment will be limited with certain providers. International health insurances are mainly thought of expats.