The best choice is to leave your insurance protection as it is. However, you must ensure that payments are made regularly, for example by direct debit. Check if you still have accident coverage. If this is not the case, ask your health insurer to include it in your policy. It is also best to maintain supplementary health insurance. You may also want to consider holiday and travel insurance which cover medical costs, personal assistance, foreign legal protection etc. This type of insurance is especially important for travel and stays in countries with expensive health systems (the U.S. and Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand), where Swiss basic health insurance does not provide sufficient coverage. Some supplementary health insurance products include travel and holiday coverage for a certain period of time. By paying additional premiums, this time period can be extended. For private or semi-private insurance, you may have to switch to worldwide coverage. Sometimes supplementary health insurance products are only provided to existing customers. In such cases, they will not accept new customers requesting such coverage. Many health insurers will suspend supplementary health insurance during the time the policyholder spends abroad. However, it is important to ensure your supplementary insurance will be reactivated without risk assessment (health questionnaire) before applying for suspension. Holders of Swiss insurance requiring emergency treatment in an EU/EFTA country: A local health insurance provider will cover costs according to agreed tariffs and policyholders will pay the usual contributions for that area. That insurer will then transfer these costs to your insurance company in Switzerland. Since 2006, all policyholders in Switzerland have a policyholder card, which makes the E 111 form superfluous. The credit card-sized policyholder card contains administrative details, such as name, gender, date of birth, insurance company and insurance number. If you are planning to stay abroad for at least a year: Consider buying international health insurance or find out what kind of insurance solutions the country you will be staying or travelling in can provide. International health insurance: IHI (International Health Insurance) products are available from Visana, Supra and Groupe Mutuel (via their Advisory Services Network). Sanitas, Intras and Kolping sell a product called "Swiss Medical" in cooperation with IHI. You will find further information on this product under ASN Ltd. CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits offer individuals (and their families) the product Pass Global Healthcare and companies (and their expatriates) the International Health Care Plan. CSS and AIG Europe offer the so-called International Health Plan. Swica have their own product called "Global Care". Swiss Insurance Partners SIP specialise in the international insurance products of domestic and foreign insurers. In any case, it is highly recommended you wait until an international insurance provider has accepted your application without reservation before terminating any supplementary insurance.