Federal government extends deadline in dispute over physiotherapy tariffs
Published: Friday, Mar 15th 2024, 16:50
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The tariff partners have been given more time in the dispute over the tariff for outpatient physiotherapy. The deadline for submitting an application for approval has been extended to May 2025. If no application is received by then, the responsible Department of Home Affairs will submit an application itself.
The Federal Council was informed of this procedure at its meeting on Friday, as announced by the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH). The tariff structure for outpatient physiotherapy services is no longer up to date and needs to be revised.
The Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA) granted the extension after taking note of positive approaches in the dispute over the future tariff, according to a statement. The tariff partners should be granted tariff autonomy. However, the parties involved in the collective bargaining dispute must regularly inform the federal government about the progress of their work.
If they do not submit an application for approval of a new tariff by May 2025, the FDHA intends to take action and make use of its subsidiary powers. The Federal Council had already submitted a new tariff structure with a time component for consultation in August 2023.
"Cuts through the back door"
Physiotherapists strongly criticized the proposal. They saw it as a tariff cut through the back door. It was merely about cutting costs and reducing the number of treatments. There was a threat of practices being closed.
The health insurance association Santésuisse, on the other hand, welcomed the tariff changes. The proposals should make it clear in future how long a physiotherapy session actually took. This would also be an advantage for patients.
The tariffs for physiotherapy services under compulsory health insurance have remained basically unchanged since the late 1990s - despite inflation. Over the last three decades, several attempts at a comprehensive revision have failed because the tariff partners were unable to reach an agreement.
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