Medicare Opt Out Letter: Fill & Download for Free

Edit: Have added additional information based on the comments from Olivier Rychner which are in italics. Thank you, Olivier!First, how does the Swiss health insurance system work.To begin with, it’s private. Unlike France and the UK, it isn’t a single payer system run by the government. A person contacts an insurance company, through an agent / representative or via their website, and signs a contract. You also cannot get insurance through your employer, but the salaries are generally high enough to cover the cost of health insurance.Next, there is no opt out, there is no penalty tax but you also can not not have insurance. Why? If you wish to leave your current insurer, you must have a letter from another insurer that states that you have a signed a contract with them. Otherwise, they will continue to cover you and to send you the bill for the premiums. Of course, you can just not pay your insurance premiums but then the insurer will file a debtor’s claim against you with the government that will affect your ability to rent an apartment or get any credit / loan. Additionally, should something happen and you need the insurance, the insurer will pay the bill but demand, via lien against your paycheck if necessary, all back premium payments plus the deductible.What about the deductible? There’s a choice - children can have CHF 0, 300 or a 1000 deductible, adults can have CHF 1500, 2000 or 3000 deductible (if memory serves me right). You pay this amount in medical bills before the insurance will kick in. There’s also a 10% co-pay even when the insurance does pay, though there is a max out of pocket amount, CHF 7500 I believe. Hospital stays don’t seem to count for the co-pay it seems. At least, when I was in the hospital 3 1/2 years ago, I had no out of pocket expense for it.Once you’ve signed a contract for your health insurance, you cannot change before January 1st. And in order to do this, you must sign the contract with the new insurer and send the letter from them to the old insurer by the end of October to make the change.The insurance companies decide how much premiums will be based on age and canton. Generally, they’ll put people into age groups and decide on a premium for that age group and according to the cantonal scale that they’ve established. It is illegal to ask a person for a medical history for basic insurance coverage. They can ask for complementary insurance (private clinics /room, alternative medicine, dental, other extras not covered by basic) but not for basic. Everyone in the same age group at the same insurer pays the same premium for basic coverage, no change for pre-existing conditions.What is basic coverage? Well, it’s what the law on health insurance requires everyone to be covered for. In French it’s called “Loi sur l’assurance maladie” law on health insurance usually abbreviated to LAMAL. And every insurer MUST offer this insurance if they want to be a health insurance provider in the country. There is no opt out for them either. From what I understand in the USA, insurance companies can opt out of offering ACA coverage. No insurer in Switzerland can opt out of LAMAL.Not covered by LAMAL is accidents and their consequences. This is covered through separate accident insurance. If the person works 8 hours or more then they pay part and their employer pays part. For those who work less than 8 hours, unemployed or children, one must contract accident insurance separately. Most get this with the same insurer as their basic coverage but it’s not mandatory. Interesting note is that most sports injuries are not considered accidents for insurance purposes unless the person practicing the sport is a professional or semi-professional in the sport. The consumer magazine Bon à Savoir (unfortunately unable to link article) explained this was because when it’s declared an accident there is zero out of pocket expense for the person -no deductible, no co-pay. So, it’s not in the insurance’s interest to have common accidents such as pulling a muscle trying to return that ball considered an accident. These are therefore considered health problems and goes under basic health coverage.TL;DR: So, everyone has insurance including those so important low-risk young people and the insurance companies must offer basic coverage required by the law, no “I don’t wanna” attitude that has struck several (many?) states in the U.S. I think those are the major differences between Switzerland and the ACA aka Obamacare.Edit2: I would like to add the emphasis that everyone gets their insurance privately. No one gets their insurance collectively through their employer which is common in the U.S.. This means government workers from the most common civil servant through the highest elected offices, they all have private insurance policies.Édit 3: I've realized that I hadn't addressed the issue of poor people (yes, the working poor and those on social aid exists in Switzerland). If everyone has only private insurance, how do poor people pay for it? In the US, you would get Medicade or Medicare. This doesn't exist in Switzerland. The poor also have private insurance. What happens though is that the cantonal government will give them a subsidy to help them pay for it. The amount that they receive depends on what their income is and the number of members in the family being supported by that income.Here is a link to a video PBS did on the Swiss system:

Well, if we look at other nations that have such a system in place:Medical doctors - pretty much all medical doctors participating in the nhcs- would be paid considerably less*Doctors would work less days and less hoursDoctors would not have to spend time arguing with insurance companies and Medicare about billing issuesDoctors would not have to spend time arguing and writing letters supporting the need for denied services. That would be up to the patients services to plead their case with the National Healthcare system (some of us still would try to intervene on behalf of the patient who really needed a denied service, but … that would decrease IMO).There would be delays in the scheduling/providing of some medical services and surgical procedures. This would affect the doctors some, but patients more.Many medications would not be available/approved by the US version of the NHS. Again frustrating for doctors, but more directly affecting patients (but that’s not the question here).Medical school would cost much less. I would predict there would be fewer Medical schools also.Malpractice insurance would cease to exist.These changes apply to doctors participating in a nhcs. Doctors who opted out to take private insurance or cash-only practices would, of course, not be affected the same way.

The opposite of stopping snail junk mail…Give your personal info freelyDon’t opt out of sharing/marketing with companies you do business withGive SMALL donations to charities - they will sell your info in order to recoup the solicitation cost of the small donation. Be sure to give small donations to different kinds of charities - animal, environment, children, etc.Register to vote, add your name to each parties mailing list, donate to politicians (each party)Help an elderly family member/friend remove their name from Medicare mailers BUT do NOT make your number private. Your name will be added to the mailing list and you will begin to receive elderly related mailers.Sign up for AARPRedirect the junk mail that your still receiving at your old addresses -Write a letter (include Manila postage paid envelopes) to the occupants of EACH of your old addresses (see your truepeoplesearch printout) and ask them to mail your mail back to you. Contact each of the senders that you receive and update your address.Google cleanse your info (whitepages, intelius, beenverified, spokeo, radaris, peoplefinders, truepeoplesearch, Melissa Data). Your goal is to have ONLY your current address listed. If you have multiple address listed in your listing - remove it! When completely finished- submit an USPS COA (change of address) for each of your old addresses. Stagger these COA’s every two years OR there may be a “multiple COA” - check with the USPS. Say you move around a lot (every 4 months) and is there a safe way that I can submit COA’s and not have them conflict each other. **please let me know what form they use OR what this is called **By submitting a COA it will add your name to the NCOA (national change of address) database. This database is used by companies to update their mailing lists, used by online databases to obtain info. But they must have an old address to obtain your new one - hence the multiple COA’s.Credit reports (Experian, TransUnion, Equifax, innovis) - are sure they have your current address! Do NOT opt out of sharing/marketing!Buy from retail magazines.Establish magazine, newspaper subscriptionsOpt in to Valpak, Valassis, MsParkAdd your name (update your address/combine multiple listings) with Acxiom, infocision, EplisonCheck out CatalogChoice and opt in to the list companies they have listedHave deceased family members mail forwarded to your address. Do the same steps as above to redirect this mail from their past addresses.Ask neighbors for their junk mail - Contact senders and add your name to their mailing list.Ask Quora’s to post their snail junk mail!