I'm still here

Wow - didn't realise how long it has been since I last posted.  Once Ski school started I have been thrown in at the deep end, told on day 2 that I needed to work more hours and an adhoc job in a shop that I have worked in on and off for a couple of years has become a daily pastime.
So, my review of 2011 (a bit late, I know):
January - drunk. relationship problems
February - dumped.  Drank some more
March - breakdown Overdose of tablets and stay in hospital.
April - moved into own studio apartment.  Holiday in England for 2 weeks. Drank lots
May - looked for work. Signed on at jobcentre
June - no work
July - no work
August - Started walking friend's dog when she returned to college. Finally felt a semblance of "home" in my new apartment.
September - all too much.  Lots of doctor's appointments, psych appointments. Meds changed. Doc's wanted me to go into psychiatric clinic.
October - went back to UK for 3 weeks instead of Psychiatric clinic. Similar.
November - waited for snow
December - snow came, ski season started.  Went from no work to 44 plus hours a week.

And then 2012. After a crappy Christmas (working so didn't even open my few presents until a couple of days later) and a lonely New Year (ended up drinking too much and sadly joining the tourist info girls for a drink outside in the rain) I then had my birthday to look forward to. Only before that, the dog which I had been walking unfortunately had to be put down.  He was 2 years old nad had an incurable autoimmune disease.  I still miss him (I am more of a cat person but this dog was ace) and cried lots.
The rest of January I was wrestling with the demon drink and knew I was drinking too much, every day as a routine.  The 30th of January was the last time alcohol passed my lips.  Wish me luck.  My friend in Spain who has been dry for over 4 years has been a lot of support and very inspirational.
February so far has been too busy for me to think, let alone write anything.  My mood has dropped - so far this year I have felt pretty manic and on top of the world.  Now I feel like shit.  I got Bronchitis and a Sinus infection last week and had 2 days off work, plus yesterday and today (not a popular decision with Ski School as it is the busy season i.e. time off only if you are dying) but I felt sooo grotty and am so exhausted that I couldn't get out of bed that it was a tough but necessary decision.  I am not sure if this is the depression creeping in again.
Sometimes I think I might as well just go back to the UK now and forget going at the end of season.  But I want to make sure everything is square here before I leave.  All my wages go directly to the Social now and I send them my bills for them to pay.  Luckily in January I earned 3500 chf (about 2000gbp) - sounds a lot hey, but you don't live in Switzerland.
Good news about my apartment though - my ex has decided to take it on as it is cheap and "our" cat lives here - he doesn't want him to move again.  This is great as the catflap is fitted to a window which I would have had to get replaced.  Plus it is warm (hence my ex has stayed over 5 nights out of the last 7 as he has no heating).
I don't know, all feels like such a muddle at the moment.  I just want to get packed and get over to England but am disillusioned by the state of the UK, living in a town I hate and the need to earn money.

Why Swiss Health Insurance Doesn't always work (and why I now Love the NHS)

WARNING: If you get bored easily, you probably won't want to read this! Contains detailed workings of Swiss Health Insurance (yawn)

I had a fairly successful appointment with my Psychiatrist yesterday and one of the things we discussed was my health insurance.

I may have explained it before (and can't remember which blog post it was in) but it's like paying car insurance - you pay a premium and have an excess.  The smaller the excess, the higher the premium. When you have resided in Switzerland for more than three months you are obliged to have health insurance.

This is all well and good, when you pay your premiums.  When you see a doctor or other specialist or have a blood test, anything, the bill is sent to you and you then send a copy to the insurer who then refund you the amount of the bill less 10%.  You then pay the bill.  Sounds simple huh?

My problem was about two years ago I got into arrears with my premiums.  I tried making a payment plan with my health insurer, A. They refused and kept demanding the amount I owed which was 3 months worth of premiums for myself and my boyfriend at the time (he paid the rent).

As a result of the arrears, they then stopped paying my medical bills.  So as a result, any money I had had to pay the medical bills and not against the arrears.  I asked for a payment plan again.  They refused.

Well, I thought, I will change insurers so that the new insurer will pay my medical bills, close off my old insurance and make part payments until the arrears are paid off.

You can only "leave" an insurer twice a year, by the end of June or by the end of December.  To cancel the contract, the insurer has to receive your cancellation a month before the end of June/December and this has to be sent recorded delivery.  They are Swiss - don't follow thse rules and your request is ignored.

I duly sent the letter, correctly and within the timescale.  Insurer A replied with a letter confirming the cancellation.  I then signed up with a new insurer, O,  who sent me the contract which I signed and returned. I started paying the new insurer from the January.

Insurer A kept sending me bills.  I telephoned them and said they had accepted my "resignation" and I was no longer insured with them.  They said it was not possible to change insurer because I had arrears on my account.  I asked for a copyof the letter and they sent me the original "acceptance of resignation" PLUS another piece of paper attached (which they had not attached before) which stated that you cannot change insurance when you have arrears on your account.  News to me. I wrote to them explaining their mistake and they didn't accept it.  Meanwhile, the debt kept mounting up, but at least the new insurer was paying my medical bills.

So, to insurer 2, O. I explained to them that I was not allowed to change insurers because of the arrears and the new insurer said because I had now signed a contract with them, I had to continue to pay them insurance premiums. Problem: I was now expected to pay 2 insurance companies.

Of course, this put me in complete panic and being in a pretty poor mental state these days with coping with stuff like this I decided to refer to Social Services.  Initially I saw the SW as part of the Psychiatric service and she investigated, telephoned people, contacted Ombudsmen etc etc on my behalf and what she discoverd was interesting:

1. The Old insurer is meant to write to the proposed new insurer to "allow" me to leave them.  Insurer A DID NOT DO THIS.

2. You are not allowed to be insured by 2 companies.  Both insisted that I pay them premiums.

3. Basically, what these insurers were doing is illegal.

Anyway, to cut a long  and boring story short (thankfully, you say!), My medical bills and health insurance are now paid for by the state, the debt has mounted up and I have been placed on an official Swiss debt register.

I was discussing this with my Psychiatrist yesterday as he has been trying to get hold of my SW with no luck, so he is going to talk to the Psychiatric service SW to review this whole situation again.  If I have to have any seriously expesive treatment then there is some State "governer" type for health insurance who will approve the treatment.

This has been going on for 2 years now and neither insurer will accept any responsibility and I feel the pressure of it all.  Luckily my doctor will keep treating me, I can still see my Psych (although I have reduced the number of appointments) and my pharmacist will keep supplying me with medication as they all agree I need continued support and treatment.  This is where it is handy to have a more personal relationship with professionals (which somes with living in a small village) and they have been great.

But I don't half miss the NHS.  I will never complain about them again.  Well, until I am back into the system when I return to the UK.

Health Insurance (again)

So I have come full circle.  The problem started with my health insurance 2 years ago when I fell behind with the premiums.  So I changed insurers as Insurer 1 stopped paying my medical bills until I had caught up with the arrears.  Insurer 2 were happy to pay my medical bills so I continued to pay the new insurer and get my medical bills paid.  I thought I had "resigned" the contract with insurer 1.  But no, I was not allowed to change insurers with arrears outstanding and they would not accept a payment plan from me although I offered this on at least 3 occasions. Insurer 1 should have informed insurer 2 that I could not proceed with a contract with them, but they didn't.
Insurer 2 then said because I had signed a contract with them also, that I had to pay them as well.  So in effect, I would have t pay 2 health insurers which there was no way I could afford. Insurer 1 kept billing me.  I kept telling them that I was no longer insured with them, so to stop billing me.  I saw the social services, but he misadvised me, so all the while insurer 1 kept registering my non payment as a debt.  I then had the government debt people chasing me for money which I didn't believe I owed and couldn't afford anyway.
Finally this year my psychiatrist referred me to the social worker based in the psychiatric department (no doubt he wanted paying too!) and she started getting involved.  Basically insurers 1 &2 were acting against the law.
Following so far?
Another three months down the line, insurer 2 started issuing refunds to me, although I had specifically said to pay back to insurer 1.  Of course, they weren't going to do this as that would show liability.  In the meantime I was referred to the normal social services department as my social worker had done all she could within her remit.
Hence I have now received another letter from insurer 1 repeating what I was told 2 years ago.  "We will not pay your medical bills untill all arrears have been paid".
In effect, this means I can no longer afford medication, I cannot afford to go to my GP, I cannot afford to go to my psychiatrist.  Normally after I have visitedeither of these /collected medication, I am billed.  This gets sent to the insurer, who then refunds me the total bill less 10%.  I can then pay the bill with a small contribution from myself so that it is paid in full.  I can negotiate part payment, but still have to pay my insurance premiums, so it is one or the other.
Basically, I'm screwed.  After half an hour of crying this afternoon I put my energies into sorting out exactly which bills were still outstanding.  I have an appointment with social services in the morning and they know that they have to deal with the insurance companies on my behalf as I am not mentally capable any more of communicating with them - it's too much and I don't always know the words to converse in German. 
I am also waiting for my unemployment benefit (3 months now) so I phoned them today.  They told me they still need more paperwork.  Would have been nice if they had written to me to let me know what was missing, so I photocopied every job related bit of paper from the last two years and sent it to them with a covering note to say if there was anything further missing all they have to do is look up my file from last October from when I last signed on and it will all be there.  Of course, being Swiss that probably won't be good enough and I will have to do the rounds of all my employers in the last 2 years to get copies of paperwork which the unemployment office ALREADY HAS!
Frustrated? YES. Upset? YES. Skint? YES (i have about five pounds to my name right now).
I know the meeting with social services will be awful tomorrow because I will get hysterical and cry because I can't take the pressure any more.  It's all too much.

No work

....until 8th august. How the hell am I gonna pay my bills? Just found out that shop workers have no rights here in Switzerland except for the big supermarkets so am stuffed, can't claim anything for the "downtime". At least I am not sacked though. Boss wants to talk it through with my bitch lying colleague on Tuesday. If I could, I would tell him to stuff it.

It hasn't really hit me yet, but when it does I know where I will be.

Anyway, am going to distract myself with a health craze next week - jogging, keep fit and swimming. Don't care what the weather is like.