The wonder of European pharmacies

The Frau loves the European healthcare system. Especially the pharmacies. Walk in to an Italian pharmacy wearing your bathing suit and a pained expression and walk out ten minutes later with cream, bandages, and the satisfaction of knowing you survived the sting of a jellyfish and everything will be ok. No waiting, no doctors, and little expense. This was The Frau’s experience last week in Italy.

 

Pharmacy in Levanto, Italy

Which reminded her that Swiss pharmacies are as great as Italian ones. Baby M has green puss coming out of her eye at 4:56 p.m. on a Saturday? No problem. Rush to the pharmacy across the street, talk with head pharmacist for one minute, receive eye drops for CHF 7, and by Monday the pink eye is gone and Baby M can go to school and Mommy can go to work.

If this doesn’t seem great, consider the dire American alternative. The health clinic. No, you cannot just go directly to the pharmacy with your pink eye or your sting. Two hours of waiting, $400 to see a doctor for five minutes who spends more time on the computer than looking at your sore throat, and then you still have to go to the pharmacy, wait in line, and spend another $100 for medicine. It wastes time, money, and gas, since you most likely have to drive too. Please America, it's time to change from a doctor-centric society to a pharmacy-centric one. Please?

Do you love European pharmacies?

12 Interesting Keywords Yodelers Use to End Up Here, Part 2

The Frau isn’t really into analytics but that doesn’t mean she can’t enjoy the Google version. Especially when it tells her how people like you end up here. In this second of two installments, The Frau will explore six additional keywords yodelers are using to arrive at One Big Yodel, along with a short commentary and links to other blog posts on that oh, so popular topic.

Hairdresser wages in Switzerland

The Frau did an unscientific Swiss salary survey not too long ago. Hairdressers do not rank high on the survey and The Frau has been wondering about this ever since. After all, a regular haircut can cost about CHF 100 for a woman and CHF 50 for a man with hardly any hair...  Find out more about salaries in Switzerland here:

Salaries in Switzerland

Healthcare in Switzerland vs. United States

Yes, The Frau often compares things between the U.S. and Switzerland, so click below, fellow yodelers with inquiring minds on the topic.

Dear Frau: Compare U.S. and Swiss Health Insurance

C-permit Switzerland benefits

Oh, that ever-defining C-permit.. The Frau loves hers because a C-permit in Switzerland means you’re a permanent resident and gives you most everything you probably wanted including permission to work, change jobs, and avoid having to fill out paperwork every single year just to continue to live here. But she went through quite a lot to get hers:

Swiss C-permit reject

My application for a Swiss C-permit

Want a C-permit? Take that test.

Why do Swiss live so long

Here’s a short answer: because they have an amazing public transportation system. This means less people are driving and more are walking. The Swiss certainly do not have long lives based on their eating habits. Cheese, 23 pounds of chocolate a year, and sausage do not a long lifespan make. But walking to the bus stop does.

Live Longer, Be More Swiss This Year

Are the Swiss rude

Oh…would The Frau talk about such a thing on her blog? Apparently yes, according to Google. But here’s the thing. The Swiss aren’t really rude. They just have different ideas about politeness in comparison to English speakers. Because things English speakers consider rude, like cutting in line at the ski lift, the Swiss consider assertive.

Why are the Swiss so pushy?

Better to live in Zurich or London

Zurich gets more rain than London. But it also has nicer air to breathe. Decisions, decisions. 

Dear Frau: Should I Move to Zurich?

Dear Frau: Compare U.S. and Swiss Health Insurance

Welcome to another edition of Dear Frau. It’s kind of like Dear Abby, except with an international twist. Remember, if you have a question about moving to Switzerland or living in Switzerland, don’t hesitate to contact the Frau.

Dear Frau,

Did you visit Switzerland often before moving there? And how does health insurance in Switzerland compare to the U.S.?

Thanks,

Interested in Switzerland

Dear Interested in Switzerland,

Whew. Short questions. Long answers…

Visiting Switzerland

The Frau had been to Switzerland three times before she moved there. She did the whirlwind, “Everything you need to know about Switzerland is in Lucerne” Globus bus tour of Europe in 2001. She never imagined living in Switzerland at that point. All she did during that trip was swim with the swans in Lake Lucerne and run around the Alpine meadows singing, “The hills are alive…” (Never mind that The Sound of Music takes place in Austria. To the Frau at that point, Switzerland and Austria were one in the same).

The Frau did another tour of Switzerland in 2005 when Mr. Frau came to Switzerland for a business trip. This visit was slightly more serious, since at that point the Frau and Mr. Frau knew a couple that had moved to Switzerland with the company Mr. Frau worked for. Mr. and Mrs. Frau met this couple for dinner. It got them thinking.

Finally, in May 2006, the Frau sealed her Swiss fate with a trip to Switzerland to (gulp) find an apartment. The Frau was really going to move there. And she was really going to become a (gulp, gulp, gulp) trailing spouse for the next three years.

Anyway, let’s fast-forward six + years (yes, the Frau has greatly overstayed her welcome) and answer the next part of the question. The answer, as you can imagine when dealing with health insurance, is somewhat complicated. The Frau is no expert, but she’ll try her best to explain the main differences.

Health Insurance in Switzerland

First of all, healthcare costs in Switzerland are typically less than in the United States. When traveling outside of Switzerland, regular Swiss insurers will pay up to two times the cost that the same procedure would have cost in Switzerland. BUT…and here’s the amazing thing…the United States as seen as so extreme when it comes to healthcare costs, that unbelievably, two times the Swiss cost is not seen as adequate. So the Frau and her family also have “World insurance” in addition to their regular Swiss insurance so they are fully covered in the United States since they do visit home at least once a year.

Here are some basic differences between the two systems:

One: Swiss health insurance is not tied to employment. This means you must take on all costs of health insurance yourself. The employer pays nothing (except usually they pay for accident insurance, which is also a mandatory part of Swiss health insurance). Regular health insurance costs can vary widely depending on your plan. You are free to choose both your insurer and your plan. In general, basic health insurance in Switzerland with a CHF 2,500 deductible will probably cost between CHF 150-225 per adult, per month. Swiss salaries are typically higher than U.S. salaries though, so in this sense, they help you pay for things like health insurance. The good part about having insurance not tied to a job is that when you lose a job or want to work part-time, you always have your health insurance. It allows employees much more freedom and flexibility, even though paying it from your own pocket can feel much more painful.

Two: Swiss health insurance is mandatory. You can’t decide you don’t want it. If you don’t sign yourself up for Swiss insurance within three months of moving here (or prove you have international insurance through an expatriate company program), the Swiss government will sign you up. Now before you scream socialism, think about it: it’s actually a good thing for health insurance to be mandatory. Everyone needs healthcare. And if everyone has it, then the insured won’t also be paying for the uninsured.

Three: Dental and eye insurance is pretty non-existent in Switzerland. You can pay extra to have it, but most plans are really, really bad. This is one area the Frau thinks Switzerland could do better in. Because in the U.S., she always had good dental and eye care which at least covered yearly or bi-yearly check-ups. In Switzerland, these kinds of visits are paid completely out of pocket.

Four: Standards of healthcare are as high or higher than in the United States. Appointments are typically easy to obtain in Switzerland. During visits, patients sit at a desk with their doctors and discuss problems before anyone undresses. It feels like a more human approach to the Frau and she also finds that Swiss doctors listen more than American doctors and order fewer pointless medical tests as a result.

Five: Like in the United States, healthcare costs are rising fast in Switzerland. The Frau’s premiums will go up by about 10% next year…and there’s nothing she can do about it.

How much will you pay for Swiss insurance? In general, you should expect to pay at least CHF 5,000 per person per year on healthcare in Switzerland. (Note that costs for children are much lower).

Anyone else want to chime in on healthcare differences/similarities between the U.S. and Switzerland? 

Readers in Switzerland: Has the Frau given a good estimate of healthcare costs in Switzerland?

Six years in Switzerland, Part I

Time flies when you move to Switzerland

Six years ago this week, the Frau descended on Zurich. At first, the Frau felt like she was on vacation. But then, her husband went to work and this career woman was faced with making him lunch in a country where she didn’t even know the word for milk (or why the grocery carts were attached with chains in a place where people didn’t even lock their bikes). Ms. 4.0-Perfectionist-who-was-once-going-to-conquer-the-world-with-her-brilliance couldn’t even grocery shop. Poor Frau. But also, poor Switzerland.

The Frau wasn’t very nice to Switzerland at first. She couldn’t understand why it wasn’t more like home. The fact that it was a different country didn’t seem like a good enough reason. Little did she know she would go through the whole expat cycle thing like everyone else until she came full circle and started blaming the United States for not being more like Switzerland.

Anyhow, in honor of the Frau’s Swiss six year anniversary, she’d like to talk about the three things that keep her living in Switzerland. Then, in Part II next week, she'll discuss three things that sometimes make her want to stuff a cervelat in it all.

Three Things That Make Her Happy To Finally Have a C-Permit

The Great Outdoors

Switzerland put the "great" in the great outdoors. You can live in the center of a town, like the Frau does, and be in the woods in a matter of minutes. As someone who grew up in Chicago, the Frau never knew it was possible not to have to get in a car to go to the woods. But in Switzerland, you can jump in the lakes and rivers, you can hike in the mountains–even in the winter on beautifully groomed paths, and you can bike in bike lanes almost everywhere in the country—or enjoy summer Sundays when 30 kilometers of road in various parts of the country are shut off to traffic and opened to bikers and rollerbladers.

Things Just Work

Once you come to Switzerland, it’s hard to go anywhere else. Even home. One look at the disaster that is O’Hare Airport, wait 1.5 hours for your luggage, and visit a bathroom that looks like it hasn’t seen a cleaning rag since 1999 and you can’t wait to get back to Zurich where a digital board will tell you that your luggage will be out in 6 minutes and 53 seconds while you admire a toilet so shiny it would give even Mr. Clean a headache.

All of this makes you start to take things for granted. Trains that are scheduled to leave at 8:38 leave at 8:38. People go to lunch exactly at noon and are back at their desks exactly at one (although this still kind of freaks the Frau out). And paper is recycled in such an orderly fashion that the Frau has developed an inferiority complex when it comes to putting her paper out on the curb because her pile, well, it looks just like her: foreign.

People Are Protected

This is a country where everyone has health insurance. This is a country where unemployment protects you for at least a year and a half by paying you 70% of your salary. This is a country where people carry cash instead of credit cards because they actually have money. This is a country where women must be paid at least 80% of their salary during maternity leave for 14 weeks. This is a country where it’s normal to work part-time—even in highly educated, professional positions. If fact, a lot of new parents decide to both work 80%. They are engineers, lawyers, writers. It’s no big deal. And that’s a big deal when it comes to work/life balance.

Stay tuned for "Six years in Switzerland, Part II," where the Frau discusses three things about Switzerland that make her never want to hear an alphorn at a Tunnelfest again.

What keeps you living in Switzerland?

Dear Frau: How does Swiss Health Insurance Work?

Welcome to another edition of Dear Frau. It's kind of like Dear Abby, except with an international twist. If you've got a question about expat life in Switzerland or moving to Switzerland, don't hesitate to contact the Frau and maybe your little Frage will be in the next edition of Dear Frau.

Dear Frau,

I am relocating to Fribourg with my husband from September through July, 2012. He received a Fulbright grant to study at the University of Fribourg, and I get to tag along. We're currently trying to navigate the private insurance world; he'll be covered by the university but I have to buy my insurance. Do you have any pointers on how Swiss health insurance works for expats and what companies to contact?

Sincerely,

Yet to be insured expat in Switzerland

Dear yet to be insured expat in Switzerland,

Swiss health insurance works no differently for expats than it does for Swiss people. Everyone in Switzerland is required to have health insurance—if you can’t prove to your city hall that you have it, they will personally sign you up. Health insurance is not paid for by employers, like it is in the United States. This is both good and bad. Good because no matter your employment status, you have insurance. Bad because it can be expensive. But the best part about Swiss insurance is that you CANNOT be denied basic health insurance for any reason.

The Frau is of the opinion that the basic, compulsory Swiss health insurance is satisfactory for most people and that there is no point to pay more than necessary to have benefits like private rooms at a hospital, since opportunities to upgrade can be paid for separately if desired.

All Swiss health insurers offer basic insurance. All you need to do is compare the price, because as far as the Frau knows, the benefits will be basically the same. (Basic insurance does not include dental or eye care).

Before the Frau signed up for insurance, she got quotes from a couple insurers and compared insurance rates on comparis.ch.

Basically, she ended up choosing Helsana, because their website was in English and they had one of the lower prices, but then Helsana somehow signed her up with SanSan, a division of Helsana that does not have a website in English. The Frau is not sure how this happened but then again she’s not sure how a lot of things happen in the country, and she’s been here over five years.

Nevertheless, despite missing her fantastic international insurance through CIGNA, which also covered dental and eye care with no deductibles, so far the Swiss insurance through SanSan has been satisfactory and for medications/vitamins not covered by it, the Frau hops over the border and buys in Germany where they are 75% less expensive. (Before you move, buy basic medicines, for example, Centrum Vitamins in the US are about $6.95 but in Switzerland the same bottle is $50).

With the basic insurance you have several options; the Frau chose the option that allowed her to go to any doctor, since even though she lives in Canton Aargau she already had several doctors she went to in Zurich at the time she had to switch from international to Swiss insurance. This option for free choice of doctors costs about CHF 20 more a month on her plan. The Frau pays about CHF 162 ($222) a month for basic Swiss insurance with this option with a CHF 2500 ($3440) deductible, which is the highest deductible. With lower deductibles, the monthly fees are higher.

As far as the Frau can tell, someone on basic Swiss insurance will end up spending about CHF 5000 ($6881) a year to be insured before the insurance company starts paying your medical bills. (This CHF 5000 includes the monthly fees, the deductible, and the extra CHF 700 they don’t tell you about that you must also pay before the insurance pays additional costs). There are some exceptions, i.e. pregnant women are exempt from paying deductible costs for most doctor visits and normal procedures related to pregnancy.

For more information, the Frau recommends reading the following:

Health insurance for people new to Switzerland

Benefits and FAQ about Swiss health insurance (download the PDFs, they are very helpful).

Anyone else want to chime in about their experience with Swiss insurance or what insurers they’ve liked/hated?

Healthcare in Switzerland vs. the United States

In the past few years, the U.S. has been in the news for its so-called health care reform. But what has been accomplished?

Like most things, as you learn more about another country’s way of doing things, you’re educated about your own country at the same time. Unfortunately, what I am learning is not flattering to the healthcare situation in the United States.

Basic Swiss health insurance covers you for emergencies that take place outside of Switzerland for up to twice the cost of what this emergency would cost inside the country. And yet Switzerland, known for being one of the most expensive places in the world, recommends that for travel to the United States, one take additional travel insurance since medical costs there will likely exceed twice the cost of the same procedure in Switzerland.

Yes. Medical care in the United States will generally exceed twice the cost of medical care in Switzerland. Why? Too many lawyers? Too many greedy people? Too many fat people? To me this is absolute insanity and shows just how out of control medical costs in the United States have gotten and how much reform really needs to take place there.

What do you think?