Health & LAMal
Swiss healthcare is excellent but private and mandatory. Understand how LAMal insurance works, deductibles, co-pays, and how to navigate between doctors and emergencies.
- Health insurance in Switzerland (LAMal): how it works
- How to choose health insurance (LAMal) in Switzerland: model, deductible and premium
- Excess and co-payment in the Swiss health system
- Health system in Switzerland: doctors, hospitals and emergencies
- The Swiss AI (Assurance-invalidité): help and reinstatement
- Vaccines in Switzerland: recommendations and freedom of choice
- In Switzerland, there is no right to return a purchase – neither in-store nor online.
- Calling 144 in Switzerland: the numbers that save lives and the bill many don’t expect
- In Switzerland, a ‘on-call’ contract does not mean ‘no rights’. There are certain things that neither the employer nor the employee are usually fully aware of
- The first time you go to the dentist in Switzerland and see the bill, you think they’ve made a mistake
- Moving to a different canton in Switzerland is not the same as moving to a different province in Spain. The administrative procedures have specific deadlines and consequences that many people only realise too late
- You’ve been paying for ‘semi-private’ cover in Switzerland for years. Do you know exactly what it covers?
- The ‘Swiss Pelicot’ and what it says about the system
- If you have an accident on your way to work, it’s not your health insurance that pays out. It’s your employer’s accident insurance. And that makes a big difference
- In Haut-Valais, if you ask for directions to the hospital, they’re very grateful, they give you a wristband… and by the time they’ve gone, you’ve lost yours
- How much do you need to earn to be eligible for health insurance benefits? The specific figures by canton that many people are unaware of
- What is deducted from your Swiss salary and exactly what each item is for
- Seven and eight years’ imprisonment and deportation from Switzerland for blowing up three cash machines. Case closed
- In Switzerland, the law does not oblige your employer to pay your salary indefinitely whilst you are on sick leave. This is what you’re actually entitled to
- If your employer in Switzerland suddenly cuts your hours, there is a scheme that protects your pay. And many people don’t know it exists
- Your health insurance excess: the detail that could cost you more than 1,200 francs a year if you choose the wrong option
- Accident insurance in Switzerland does not cover everything that happens to you at work
- There’s a Swiss subscription that costs 40 francs a year and could save you a bill running into several thousand. Lots of people have been here for years and still don’t know it exists
- In Switzerland, if you leave a job of your own accord, your unemployment benefit does not start straight away. There is a waiting period, which many people only realise too late
- In Switzerland, if a helicopter rescues you, the bill can reach 4,500 francs or much more. Your health insurance doesn't cover everything. What you need to know before you need it
- In Switzerland, if you’ve been on sick leave for months, your salary doesn’t just stop coming in overnight. That’s how the system works.
- In Switzerland, if you’ve been on sick leave for months, your salary doesn’t just stop all of a sudden. That’s how the system works.
- On May 28, 2025, the village of Blatten disappeared under the mountain in four minutes. A year later, what the canton has known since 2022 comes to light
- You fall ill whilst on holiday in Spain. What your LAMal covers, because many people arrive thinking they’re fully covered
- For the past few years, the health insurance scheme has covered visits to a psychologist. But you need to know how it works.
- In Switzerland, wishing someone a happy birthday before the actual day brings bad luck. You always find this out at the worst possible moment
- El seguro de accidentes en Suiza: el que tienes sin saberlo y que no es el seguro médico
- Accident insurance in Switzerland does not work the same if you work more or less than 8 hours a week
- Private liability insurance in Switzerland: what it is, why almost all rental contracts require it and what happens if you don't have it
- For the past few years, the health insurance scheme has covered visits to a psychologist. But you need to know how it works.
- In Switzerland, if you’re made redundant, there’s no such thing as a ‘severance payment’. And that’s something many Spaniards discover the day they’re called into the manager’s office
- La franquicia del seguro médico va a subir: lo que cambia y lo que no
- Subsidies for health insurance premiums: money that many are entitled to and do not ask for
- Tardoc: what has changed in your medical practice since January 2026
- In Switzerland, it is illegal to give away leftover medicines to someone else. Yes, even if you paid for them yourself and don’t want to throw them away.
- LAMal does not pay the dentist. You find out after the first date.
- The day I went to the dentist in Switzerland
- The franc is worth less than it was a year ago. Those who have just returned from a holiday in Spain know this only too well
- In Switzerland, there is no temperature above which you are allowed to stay off work. However, your employer does have specific obligations
- Your health box card has a European card on the back. But what it covers in Spain is not what you imagine
- In Zurich, a man accused of murder appeared in court from his hospital bed. This is not a metaphor.
- Temporary contracts also exist in Switzerland. And they don’t work in the same way as they do in Spain.
- A Legionella outbreak in Basel has already claimed one life and resulted in twenty-six cases. The source: cooling towers on top of an office block
- Switzerland is considering creating something similar to the French PACS. For couples who do not want to get married but also do not want to be left without legal protection.
- El psicólogo cubierto por el seguro médico básico: cómo funciona y por qué tanta gente aún no lo sabe
- If you fall ill in Spain and have Swiss insurance, here’s what the LAMal covers and what it doesn’t
- The first time you walk into a Swiss pharmacy and order something normal, something doesn't work as you expected
- You own property in Spain and Switzerland and haven’t made a will. This is no small matter.
- In Winterthur, a man stabs three people at the station. He had been released from psychiatry 24 hours earlier
- In August, your GP is on holiday. In Switzerland, there’s a specific solution to this if you know where to look
- In Switzerland you pay for health insurance every month. And on top of that, they charge you for the first consultation.
- If you fall ill in Spain this summer, your health insurance will cover some of the costs. But not as much as you might think.
- A lecturer at a Zurich university has been convicted of insurance fraud and hooliganism. He failed to appear at the trial either
- In Switzerland, the government may pay part of your health insurance. Many people who are entitled to this support never apply for it
- The LAMal does not provide the same level of cover outside Europe. Before you fly to Mexico, Colombia or the United States, there’s one thing you should know