" Greetings to All, Is it truly the practice that Swiss companies usually do not offer health insurance to their employees? I was told that insurance is mandatory by law but that the vast majority of companies do not offer health insurance as a benefit. Is that true? If so, can anyone recommend a good insurance program to cover a family of three? Thanks, Tom "

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" To Tom: Yep, all true. But it''s not so bad: Get the highest deductible (""Franchise"") you can (I think it''s 1500 francs--ignore overzealous agents who urge you to take a lower deductible). For us, our premium comes out to about 100 francs per adult per month. Currently we''re with Groupe Mutuel. Children (up to 16, I think) cost about 50 francs per month (each). A law thing. Get only the mandatory insurance ""Grundversicherung"" (you don''t need the slick expensive add-on insurance upgrades designed to shake more money out of you). Some may disagree on this point, but my view is that insurance is designed to protect you from catastrophic financial loss, not reimburse you for toothbrushes. Every year, you are allowed to switch insurance companies for your mandatory insurance if they raise rates on you (or even for no reason at all). You''ll find lots of press on this in October every year, I suggest Tages Anzeiger (for the Zurich area). We switched from Wincare in November and saved 600 per year. Recent (October) articles in the Tagi list in order the cost for insurance from the major (12 or so) insurance providers. Go to tages-anzeiger.com and enter a search term (Grundversicherung), you''ll see them. (Even without reading German, you can read the graphs, if you get the print version). The good thing about carrying your own insurance is that you can take it with you, for example if you switch employers. You don''t have to worry about getting onto another employer''s plan. Also, everyone has to be accepted for Grundversicherung. You can''t be rejected, say, if you have terrible health problems. I find the system intelligent and compassionate. I wish the US would do something similar. Instead it leaves 40 million Americans out in the cold. But that''s a different topic. As always, learning the system can help you save big bucks. Good luck, Yves "

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" Oops: did I mention each Kanton pays a Kinderzulage (child allowance), every month, per child? Kanton Zurich pays 150 francs per month*. So, while each child costs 50 francs per month in health care, you will have 100 left over from Kinderzulage to pay for your own monthly premium. Essentially then, your health insurance comes out to nil. (At least for us it does). * Some Kantons pay even more, eg. Zug, which pays around 250 per child per month (hearsay). And for kickers, some Kantons even pay you for each child that is born, something like 500 francs! (Unfortunately ZH isn''t one of them). Yves "

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