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HEALTH INSURANCEThe sending of new insurance cards is late
Following the massive changes in health insurance, tens of thousands of insured are still without a card. They will be able to be treated otherwise in Switzerland, but not necessarily abroad.
Archives/Photo d’illustration.
20Min/Carole Alkabes
Tens of thousands of health insured have not yet received their insurance card, normally sent in December, reports the Sunday newspaper of the day. The cause: the rise in premiums for basic insurance which decided a quarter of policyholders to change funds (according to a survey by the Comparis site) – a record figure. Hence a tripling of orders for Sasis, a subsidiary of Santésuisse, in charge of card production. It was too much for its limited capacities, explains Manuel Ackermann, spokesperson for Sasis.
The new cards should reach policyholders by the end of January at the latest, according to CSS and Helsana, the largest health insurers. Others, like Swica, hint at earlier delivery. In the meantime, the insured persons concerned can request their insurance number from their fund or present their insurance policy, indicates according to Santésuisse
Not all in the same boat
Policyholders are affected to varying degrees. CSS reports around 14,500 new customers waiting. At Helsana, they would be around 20,000 people, according to a spokesperson, including not only new policyholders, but also people whose card has expired. The CPT, whose clientele has increased by 40% thanks to its comparatively advantageous premiums, speaks of a few thousand people affected. Assura and Swica confirmed the delay without giving numbers.
Short-sighted insurers
But not all funds are late in sending cards. Concordia is not affected by this issue. She had anticipated the bottlenecks and booked a production slot early on. Felix Schneuwly, health insurance expert at Comparis, therefore has little understanding for the delay of the other funds. According to him, they should have been prepared for the high need for new cards which was “predictable given the increase in premiums”.
Be careful if you go abroad
If in Switzerland you can nevertheless continue to be treated without administrative difficulties, it is when traveling that the absence of a card can pose a problem according to Felix Schneuwly, expert in health insurance at Comparis: “In certain circumstances, hospitals require a credit card to ensure costs are covered. Because over there, doctors and hospitals are used to receiving an insurance card from foreign patients. The solution, according to Manuel Ackermann of Santésuisse: request a replacement certificate from your health insurance fund in the event of a trip abroad. As noted by Sunday newspaperit only remains to hope that such a certificate arrives before departure.
Workload overload for Swiss doctors and hospitals
The absence of insurance cards also has repercussions on the country’s health system. Doctors and hospitals, informed by the funds of the delay of the cards, must manually enter the data of the patients concerned. This represents an increase in the administrative burden. Just like the possibility put in place by insurers for them to obtain the necessary information on the insured from a hotline.
(ewe)