A private-treatment proposal should explain what is being offered to a particular person, in a particular setting, for a defined initial period and fee. For someone considering Switzerland, it also needs to make the relationship between residential support, clinical care, and independent medical services understandable.
Read the proposal as a working agreement about responsibilities. Attractive accommodation photographs and a list of therapies can introduce a service, but they do not settle who will provide care, which costs are included, or what happens when the clinical recommendation changes.
Start with the person and purpose
Check that the proposal reflects the assessment information available so far and states the intended purpose of admission. It may describe an initial assessment period, a residential treatment plan, or another pathway. Ask which recommendations remain provisional until further clinical review.
The document should connect the proposed setting to the person’s needs in understandable language. A long menu of possible methods does not show which priorities the team has identified or why the residence is appropriate.
The guide to assessment before residential admission explains the information that should support this discussion. Financial readiness and clinical suitability are separate questions to resolve.
Confirm the contracting organization and actual location
Identify the legal entity providing the contracted service, the confirmed location, and the person authorized to answer questions about the agreement. A brand may describe several locations or care formats, so make sure the proposal names the one being offered.
Check whether the residence is exclusive or shared and what that means operationally. A private bedroom, a private suite, and a residence reserved for one client are different arrangements. Ask which spaces and household services are shared.
If a property is not yet confirmed, clarify how it will be selected and what features are actually promised. A sample photograph or illustrative address should not be treated as a guarantee without written confirmation.
Separate the clinical team from personal support
Ask which professional roles are included and how they are organized. The proposal should distinguish psychiatric or medical input, psychological treatment, nursing if provided, and practical support such as scheduling, meals, and household coordination.
A personal manager can be valuable without being a nurse or prescriber. Similarly, access to an on-call professional is different from that professional being physically present throughout the night. Request an explanation of the actual arrangements relevant to the person’s needs.
Where a service is delivered by an independent professional, ask how the appointment, records, consent, and fees are handled. The goal is a clear account of responsibility rather than an impressive number of job titles.
Read the schedule as a clinical plan
Look for the expected pattern of assessment, individual sessions, team review, and other activities. Ask which parts are agreed, which are illustrative, and how the plan changes when the clinical picture becomes clearer.
More listed activities do not automatically make a proposal more suitable. Consider whether the schedule has a coherent purpose, enough time for the person to participate, and a process for reviewing progress.
If work, accessibility, language, or family participation affects the timetable, have those needs addressed before acceptance. A general promise of personalization should lead to specific answers about the practical issues already known.
Verify the currency and unit of the quoted fee
A price should identify the currency, whether it is per client, and the period it covers. Confirm the initial residential duration and the total amount payable. Do not assume that a number shown for Mallorca also uses euros when applied to Zurich.
THE BALANCE: 30’000–100’000 per person, per week, depending on setting and intensity. The personal proposal should specify the residence, clinical schedule, included services and continuing support.
COGNIFUL: 30’000–50’000 per person, per week, depending on intensity. Prices use the local currency: EUR in Mallorca, CHF in Zurich and GBP in London. Confirm the individual treatment schedule, psychiatric input where needed, and continuing-care arrangements in the personal proposal.
Also ask how arrival and departure dates determine the billed period. If a stay does not fit an exact number of weeks, the agreement should explain the calculation. Do not invent a daily rate by dividing an advertised weekly fee unless the provider confirms that method applies.
Mark each service as included, conditional, or additional
Read phrases such as access to, available, clinically indicated, and included carefully. They answer different questions. A service can be available through coordination while still requiring an independent appointment and additional payment.
Create a short working list of the items that matter for this patient: relevant clinician appointments, investigations, medication costs, transport, interpreting, family sessions, and follow-up. Ask the provider to clarify each uncertain item in the proposal.
Some services appropriately depend on clinical indication. That does not mean they must all be delivered, nor should a patient seek unnecessary investigations simply because a broad program description mentions them.
Check the boundary around hospitals and external care
Ask what happens if an independent specialist, diagnostic service, or hospital is needed. Clarify who makes the referral, who accepts responsibility for that care, and which charges sit outside the residential agreement.
THE BALANCE’s fee page expressly distinguishes selected included external arrangements from every possible hospital or third-party charge. Apply the same careful reading to any provider: a statement that medical coordination is included does not by itself make external treatment free.
The guide to external hospital fees develops these questions. Ask for the relevant financial and clinical process before an unexpected transfer makes it harder to review calmly.
Specify the continuing-care period and content
An aftercare period should identify what support it contains, who delivers it, and where it can be provided. A duration alone does not tell you the number of appointments, professional roles, or access between scheduled contacts.
Separate residential charges from support included after the stay. Where a program includes several months of follow-up, ask whether that support forms part of the selected program fee and what might be billed independently.
For an international patient, confirm the location in which remote care will be received and the local professionals needed at home. A proposed video appointment does not resolve every prescribing, examination, or urgent-care need.
Understand deposits, payment, and changes
Read the payment timetable and identify what must happen before admission is confirmed. Ask how deposits or advance payments are treated if the start date changes, the patient becomes unsuitable for the setting, or an assessment recommends another pathway.
Review cancellation, postponement, early departure, and extension as separate situations. The relevant dates, charges, and refund process should be understandable in the actual agreement rather than inferred from a reassuring telephone conversation.
If another person pays, confirm who signs which document and what financial responsibility they accept. Payment authority should be documented separately from consent to receive the patient’s clinical information.
Ask questions before signing
The FOPH’s right-to-information guidance includes understandable information about care and its financial implications. Use that principle to ask for explanations of terms that remain unclear in a private proposal.
A useful question is specific: Does this fee include the external consultation already recommended, and if so under which arrangement? That is easier to answer accurately than asking whether the package is comprehensive.
Record material clarifications in the relevant document or agreed written correspondence. If verbal information conflicts with the proposal, ask which version governs and request that the inconsistency be resolved.
Compare two proposals on the same basis
Use the same initial period and patient needs when comparing costs. One proposal may include a longer stay, a different residence, or more defined continuing care. Another may leave external services unpriced. Those differences matter more than the first weekly number.
For THE BALANCE, use the official site at Official website; for COGNIFUL, use Official website. Request a proposal for the actual location and format being considered.
Keep clinical fit as a separate assessment alongside cost. If a lower-priced option cannot meet an essential need, the answer is to identify an appropriate pathway, not to erase the need from the comparison.
Check a worked proposal scenario
Imagine a proposal that includes residential treatment and local transport but mentions an outside specialist as available if required. Before signing, ask whether that specialist has already been clinically recommended, who books the appointment, and whether the fee is included.
Then consider an extension. Ask what clinical review would support it, whether the residence and team would remain available, and how the additional total would be documented. The initial weekly rate alone does not answer all three questions.
This approach turns broad labels into concrete responsibilities. It also shows which decisions can be confirmed now and which need a defined review point after assessment.
Keep the final agreed version accessible
Before arrival, retain the accepted proposal, relevant terms, invoice, and important clarifications. Confirm the point of contact for practical changes and the clinician responsible for questions about the treatment plan.
Share documents according to each person’s role. A payer may need the financial agreement while the patient and treating professionals need the clinical explanation. They do not all require identical access to every record.
A readable proposal should leave the patient able to explain what they are entering, why it is recommended, what it costs, and how changes will be handled. Resolve the significant gaps before treating the booking as complete.
Sources and further reading
Found a detail that has changed? Tell the editorial team.