Basic and supplementary insurance. When do I need to provide my medical information?
Basic insurance & supplementary insurance
When you choose an insurer for your basic health coverage, you don't have to fill out a medical questionnaire.
Since basic health insurance is mandatory for people living in Switzerland, the insurer must accept your application. This, regardless of your age and state of health. This also applies if you decide to change insurers.
As it stands, the insurer cannot resort to risk selection and cannot refuse to insure you. You may be asked for a general information form, but nothing is as comprehensive as a comprehensive health questionnaire.
However, the obligation to complete one is a reality when you take out supplementary insurance. The insurer is free to judge the level of risk and to adapt the conditions of its coverage according to the cases encountered.
What about medical confidentiality?
Professional secrecy for doctors applies in all cases. Simply, a certain degree of information sharing is accepted when the patient applies for supplemental insurance.
As a general rule, you must give your doctor a power of attorney so that he or she can respond to the insurer in question.
This does not prevent the legal obligation to limit itself to what is strictly necessary in the transmission of your medical data.
Without this information, the insurer cannot record future benefit payments on the basis of your assumed future state of health.
In conclusion, the approach of an insurer covering supplementary health benefits is legal when it asks you to fill out a health questionnaire. Your doctor, with your consent, may also transmit data and complete the information necessary for the analysis of your file. That said, your doctor is nevertheless required to limit this information to what is strictly necessary.
Do I let my broker answer for me?
Never.
You may think that you have a degree of technical expertise to formulate certain answers so that your file is better considered, but in the case of your health questionnaire, always fill it out yourself.
You are the only one authorized to explain your history in detail and to provide the correct and complete medical evidence. Only your doctor can support you in this process.
What if I answer approximately?
It's never advisable. You are required to answer accurately and completely.
If you do the opposite, you run certain risks.
Just like when you take out a loan... Your file with an insurer must be irreproachable in its constitution and the information or supporting documents shared.
What are the risks?
The simple refusal to cover costs relating to the care provided. This can be particularly damaging if the care and therefore the relative costs are high.
Simply terminating your contract.
You might as well be transparent and discuss with your complementary insurer, even if it means having to pay more, rather than running the risk of having to pay all the costs related to care and/or hospitalization. This is all the more important given the high cost of healthcare in Switzerland. Whether it's dental care or other complementary care to the basic coverage, quality often goes hand in hand with the invoice received.
Can the supplementary insurer require an additional examination?
According to the answers provided in the questionnaire, the insurer is entitled to request it.
Your doctor will then be informed and additional analyses will be carried out in order to complete the information in your file with the insurer.
What kind of information do I need to provide?
Any relevant medical information relating to the questions asked. However, you can choose not to respond in the following contexts:
Information concerning temporary treatments such as for a cold for example. There is no need to specify the common cases faced by the entire population and which do not cause chronic or serious damage to your health.
The care provided that is prescribed. In principle, the limitation period is set at more than five years. If necessary, check with the insurer in question to be informed of the period applied.
Whether or not you are taking a birth control pill. This is a matter of privacy and personal health choice.
Information on routine medical treatments without any particular consequences is also to be considered non-mandatory. A shoulder dislocation, a superficial cut, a temporary ache, a case of temporary food poisoning... Any temporary event that does not have a long-term impact.
And for my child?
It is advisable to declare your child before birth in order to subscribe to basic coverage and for supplemental insurance. As this is a case with no medical history, this will avoid unpleasant surprises if you do it after the birth.
Think, for example, of a case of dental malformation once your child has reached teething age. Hello dental bills! Avoid this case by anticipating the additional coverage.
Milenia, by your side
Health is our most precious asset. We live in a country where basic coverage is mandatory, and that is very appreciable.
The system is therefore intended to be fair and inclusive. Everyone has the right to quality care to cope with the vagaries of life.
The particularity is in the level of complementary care. Your coverage depends on your state of health and the complementary insurers are there, with the right to analyse your file in order to adapt their conditions.
You must therefore be transparent and honest in these steps. It may seem intrusive or even unfair at times, but you might as well have an orderly and complete file to avoid unpleasant surprises during your life; You might as well avoid a financial burden in addition to a medical burden that is already heavy enough to bear.
Milenia is the leading financing platform in Switzerland. We are your credit partner when you want to finance and realize your personal projects. We are not insurers, but our experience shows that life's hazards are legion and sometimes require a financial boost.
Health concerns are one of these hazards.
If your budget allows it, if your financial situation is healthy, we are at your side to guide you through challenging times to overcome.
This is why we inform you of your rights and obligations, in terms of personal loans but also in terms of insurance, finance, investments, job loss or bills.
So think of Milenia to carry out your projects. We look forward to supporting you throughout your life.
May it be long and synonymous with iron health!
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