Tariff Agreements and Direct Payments

For some years now, UNSMIS has worked with the health insurance schemes of ILO, CERN and WHO to negotiate agreements with a range of health-care providers, with the aim of expanding its network of service providers who offer high-quality care at reasonable rates. 

These agreements are a key component of UNSMIS’s strategy to keep costs down and have without doubt exerted a restraining influence on trends in expenditure. UNSMIS has, in recent years, consistently outperformed medical inflation around the world, more specifically in Switzerland, where the bulk of UNSMIS’s medical reimbursements take place.

Without prejudice to the principle that Society members are free to choose their care providers, you are urged to give some thought to the benefits offered by the providers who have entered into agreements with UNSMIS. We would like to remind you that UNSMIS is a mutual scheme: any savings that are made benefit all Society members and make it possible to keep premiums down to a reasonable level.
 

New agreement with La Colline rehabilitation and physiotherapy center as well as Qlick and Care Physio in Switzerland

We are pleased to announce the opening of a physiotherapy center in the Nations district (Voie Creuse 16 - 1202 Geneva). We have concluded an agreement with this group which takes over a total of 6 physiotherapy centers in Geneva but also with Qlick and Care which offers at-home physiotherapy treatment throughout the canton of Geneva. You also have the possibility to make an appointment online.

https://www.physiotherapie-lacolline.ch/nos-centres/physiotherapie-la-colline-nations/ https://qlickandcare.ch/
 

New Agreement with the Magellan Group in Switzerland

UNSMIS is happy to announce that the agreement reached with the Magellan Group will go a long way to contain costs and improve the customer experience. The Magellan Group counts over 110 doctors and 30 para-medicals (i.e. physical therapists) operating from 10 medical and imagery centres across the Léman Region from Geneva to Sion.

https://www.magellan.ch/en/international-insurances/

The provider has prepared a dedicated page on their website in English in addition to information in French. Aware of the international nature of UNSMIS’s insured population and of the importance of being treated by someone with whom you can freely communicate, Magellan has implemented a feature on their website that allows insured members to search for physicians and therapists not only by specialty but also by language spoken. To further facilitate the client experience, contact information, and in some cases the possibility to request appointments on-line, is available on this dedicated page.

The most important feature of this new agreement is that all the doctors and therapists that are part of the Magellan group have agreed to charge the same rates they are required to charge the Swiss mandatory insurance. This will go a long way to curtail the practice of insured members being charged unreasonable fees merely because they have private insurance.

We strongly encourage all our insured members to try and make use of the services offered as this will help contain overall expenditure as well as lower your out of pocket expenses. 

 

New Agreements with Hospitals in Bonn

UNSMIS provides insurance coverage for a significant population based in Bonn, Germany. Over 1,300 staff members, retirees and eligible family members of the three Bonn based participating agencies, UNFCCC, UNCCD and UNV-Bonn, have chosen UNSMIS as their insurance provider of choice.

We are pleased to announce that UNSMIS has negotiated two conventions with the following hospitals:

Universitätsklinikum Bonn

Venusberg-Campus 1

53127 Bonn

Tel : +49 228 2870

GFO Kliniken Bonn

St. Marien St. Josef Cura Hospital
Robert-Koch-Straße 1 Hermannstr. 37 Schülgenstraße 15
53115 Bonn (Venusberg) 53225 Bonn (Beuel) 53604 Bad Honnef
Tel: 0228 505-0 Tel: 0228 407-0 Tel: 02224 7720

For all non-emergency hospitalizations requiring an overnight stay, insured members will not have to pay anything up front. UNSMIS will take care of settling the bill 100% and subsequently recover any out of pocket expenses. All such requests must be approved in advance by UNSMIS. If you do not get UNSMIS’s prior approval, you may be liable to settle the invoice(s) and subsequently submit them to UNSMIS with proof of payment for reimbursement.

The process to submit the direct payment request in hospitals outside of Switzerland and France has been fully automated. Please log onto the online portal , select the "find a provider" icon, select the region and follow the instructions on how to make a direct payment request.

 

Network of HealthCare providers in Africa, Asia and Central and South America

We take this opportunity to remind you that UNSMIS recently launched a service that is geared at facilitating access to medical health care in Africa, Asia and Central and South America. Simply log into your e-claims portal and filter by region, country and specialty.

For all outpatient care, identify the provider, make an appointment, show your card and pay up front. All settled invoices can then be submitted to UNSMIS for reimbursement. In some cases, you may also be able to benefit from discounted rates.

For all non-emergency hospitalizations requiring an overnight stay, insured members will not have to pay anything up front. UNSMIS will take care of settling the bill 100% and subsequently recover any out of pocket expenses. All such requests must be approved in advance by UNSMIS. If you do not get UNSMIS’s prior approval, you may be liable to settle the invoice(s) and subsequently submit them to UNSMIS with proof of payment for reimbursement.

The process to submit the direct payment request in hospitals outside of Switzerland and France has been fully automated. Please log onto the online portal select the "find a provider" icon, select the region and follow the instructions on how to make a direct payment request.

 

Pharmacies

UNSMIS reimburses medicine purchased in France with a prescription from a Swiss doctor. This is important because for the same medicine, prices can be as much as 20 to 50% lower in neighbouring France than in Switzerland. UNSMIS plan members are encouraged to purchase medication in neighbouring France where possible.

UNSMIS has concluded an agreement with Pharmacie de la Poterie in nearby Ferney Voltaire. The pharmacy will charge UNSMIS insured members the pricing of the French social security system for the medication and there will be no charge for custody tax (from 6:30pm to 9pm) nor for emergency tax and nor assistance tax.

In addition, UNSMIS has also concluded an agreement with the Pharmacie Plus group of pharmacies the Suisse Romande region. Simply inform the pharmacist that you are insured with UNSMIS, you may be required to show proof of this (simply download the UNSMIS App and use the digital membership card) and you will benefit from the following discounts:

-          10% discount on prescribed medication whose price is below CHF 100;

-          5% discount on prescribed medication priced between CHF 100 and CHF 1,000.

 

Agreements with healthcare providers in Switzerland

UNSMIS is a self-insured and self-administered plan with over 32,000 insured members worldwide. Whilst all efforts are being made to expand discount agreements and direct pay agreements all over the world, the bulk of the effort has focused on Switzerland as this is where most medical expenses emanate from as well as it being the largest concentration of UNSMIS insured members around the globe. Please click here to access the list of medical establishments with whom UNSMIS has an agreement with.