In Switzerland, medical fees are very high. The basic and mandatory insurance covers risks of "sickness and insurance" and pregnancy and maternity fees, in return to a regular payment of the premiums.

Therefore it is mandatory to subscribe to a basic healthcare protection (LAMal) as soon as you arrive in Switzerland. In order to register, you need to choose a fund amongst the health insurances (see : http://www.comparis.ch or http://www.geneve.ch/social/assurance). You just need to contact the fund of your choice and register. For the mandatory insurance, there is no medical test form, because there is no possibility for the fund to refuse. The insurance department can provide some standard letters for subscription and cancellation that it is possible to download on the SAM website: http://www.geneve.ch/social/assurance

The mandatory insurance covers the following fees:

• treatments made or indicated by a registered GP (visit, prescriptions) ,
• The cost of going to hospital,
• medical examination and analysis,
• emergency treatment abroad or in other cantons.

You will get the list of general practitioners in the canton of Geneva on the AMGE website. Most of the doctors who work in Switzerland speak English or German in addition to French, so you should not have difficulties. However, if you want specifically a doctor speaking your language , you can check on the AMGE website.

You will get the list of pharmacies in Geneva on the website: http://www.pharmacies-geneve.ch

The pharmacy staying open 24h is indicated here.