Health insurance
The information is for bachelor, master, joint-master, MAS, exchange students at ETH Zurich.
Doctoral students, post-docs and guests of ETH Zurich contact the Welcome Center.
Key information on health insurance in Switzerland
- Health insurance coverage is mandatory for any person residing in Switzerland for more than 3 months.
- The compulsory basic insurance covers medical treatment in the event of illness and accident.
- You are free to choose your insurance company. The basic insurance comprises the same benefits for all insurers, but the monthly premiums vary a lot according to insurance model and age.
- There are special packages for international students. These are for students from non-EU/EFTA countries without an EU health insurance card or for students from EU/EFTA countries with an EU health insurance card who start to work beside studying (Canton Zurich, other rules may apply in other cantons).
- Students with a private health insurance can apply for an exemption from compulsory health insurance, but in our experience this is rejected in almost all cases.
- Within 3 months after arrival in Switzerland
a) Students from EU/EFTA countries with an EU health insurance card: have to apply for an exemption from the mandatory health insurance obligation
or
b) Students from non-EU/EFTA countries have to take out a students health insurance and apply for an exemption from the "normal" health insurance.
- If you fail to comply with the 3 month deadline, you will be allocated an insurer by the authority. This becomes very expensive!
- For more information see external page The compulsory health insurance in a nutshell brochure from the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health.
Contacts
For BSc, MSc, Joint Master and MAS students
For exchange students
Student Exchange Office
ETH Zurich
Raemistr. 101
HG F 23.1
8092
Zurich
Switzerland
Please note: The information on this page is meant for information purposes only. No responsibility is taken for the correctness of this information. The rules and regulations may have changed in the meantime. For legally binding information please contact the respective authorities.