If you’re heading to Spain this summer, your Swiss health insurance card acts as a European Health Insurance Card and provides the same cover as it does for locals. However, if you’re travelling to Mexico, Colombia, the United States, Argentina or any country outside the EU/EFTA area, the LAMal does not work in the same way.
Swiss basic health insurance does cover emergencies worldwide. However, outside Europe, it only covers costs up to an amount calculated based on what the same treatment would have cost in Switzerland. Hospitalisation may be capped at 90% of the equivalent Swiss cost. If you’re taken to A&E in Miami or Bogotá and the bill comes to double what it would have cost at the cantonal hospital in Geneva, you’ll have to pay the difference. Not the health insurance fund.
What it does not cover under any circumstances: doctor’s appointments that are not genuine emergencies, medicines bought elsewhere, check-ups, or monitoring of long-term conditions. If you’re in pain but it’s not an emergency, don’t expect the health insurance to cover it. It isn’t designed for that. Some people only realise this at the worst possible moment.
The Confederation strongly recommends taking out supplementary travel insurance for destinations outside the EU/EFTA, particularly for the United States and Canada, where a couple of days in A&E can cost over 50,000 francs. Basic KVG cover is not designed to cover such costs. Travel insurance usually costs between 30 and 80 francs for a week, depending on the cover. The difference between having it and not having it can be huge.