You’d like to learn a language or simply experience new countries and cultures? Travel is very rewarding and broadens your horizons. We help you with everything you need to know regarding your health insurance.
Only 2% of young Swiss people have never left Switzerland. From the age of 12, more than a third have visited six or more countries. And every tenth Swiss citizen aged 12 and over has lived abroad for at least six months. These are the results of a survey conducted by the Swiss Federal Surveys of Adolescents.
Your basic insurance in Switzerland covers the cost of emergency medical treatment abroad. But when is an emergency an emergency? An emergency conjures up images of accidents and A&E. However, it's also possible that you are abroad and fall ill. Theoretically, you would have to be treated in Switzerland for basic insurance to cover the costs. However, a return trip to Switzerland just to go to the doctor would be excessive. So you go to a doctor near you. This is also classified as emergency treatment.
Inside Europe
The basic insurance covers the costs according to the social insurance tariff of the respective country. This applies to all countries within the European Union (
Outside Europe
If you are travelling outside Europe, the costs of medical treatment can differ greatly from the costs in Switzerland. The basic insurance pays a maximum of twice the costs that would be incurred for the same treatment in your canton of residence.
So if you are travelling to a country with high treatment costs, supplementary insurance is highly recommended. These countries include Australia, Japan, Canada and the USA, for example.
Supplementary insurance covers higher treatment costs and additional benefits, such as the cost of medical transportation back to Switzerland or rescue transport abroad. Ideally, you should combine a supplementary outpatient insurance plan with a hospital plan. For example:
Hospital Standard Liberty
Hospital insurance for the general ward including Sanitas Assistance
Easy – low-cost supplementary insurance for travel
If you don’t have supplementary insurance cover already, we recommend that you take out the Easy supplementary insurance plan. It’s low-cost and covers the most important benefits for stays abroad.
In case of medical emergencies abroad you can rely on rapid and straightforward support from Sanitas Assistance. The Sanitas Assistance service is provided by international assistance organisation Medicall on behalf of Sanitas. You’ll find the telephone number on the back of your Sanitas insurance card.
+41 44 446 47 47For example, Sanitas Assistance will organise:
Important: For Sanitas to be able to cover the costs of treatment abroad, you must always contact Sanitas Assistance in an emergency.
Sanitas Assistance is included in the following supplementary insurance plans:
If you plan to live abroad for longer, you can apply to suspend your health insurance. If you suspend your health insurance, you can reactivate it at a later date when you return to Switzerland without undergoing another medical exam.
Conditions:
Different conditions apply for suspending basic and supplementary insurance plans. If you’d like to suspend your health insurance, please get in touch. We’ll be glad to help.
Advice hotline
Before you travel, find out about any risks you may face and any measures you can take to protect yourself. In many tropical regions and developing countries you may be exposed to sometimes incurable illnesses For Sanitas customers, this advice is free of charge.
Get advice with the Sanitas Medgate app
Of course, you can also get advice without using the Medgate app. Just call the Medgate hotline and have your Sanitas customer number to hand.
Medical hotline
Sanitas
0844 124 365
Compact One
0844 111 365
You can enter all the primary vaccinations you’ve had so far in the digital vaccination pass. You can use the vaccine search to find out which illnesses you're protected against. And you can choose to receive reminders for pending vaccinations. You will find the digital vaccination pass in the Sanitas Portal app.
If you’re planning on going abroad for longer, the best solution depends primarily on your destination. In some cases an international health insurance plan is best. And some countries require mandatory health insurance. Give us a call, we’ll be happy to advise you.
Advice hotline