Reducing healthcare costs remains politically important
Published: Thursday, Sep 26th 2024, 14:30
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Rising health insurance premiums and the reduction of healthcare costs remain an important topic on the Swiss political agenda. Below is an overview of upcoming votes and ideas for reducing costs.
VOTE: The bill on the uniform financing of outpatient and inpatient healthcare services (Efas for short) will be put to the people on November 24. Today, inpatient treatment is paid for by the cantons and health insurers, while outpatient treatment is covered by the health insurers alone. The bill is intended to create an incentive for a shift from inpatient to outpatient treatment, which should lead to lower healthcare costs.
UNITED COSTS: In June, voters clearly said no to the SP's premium relief initiative. This provided for a cap on premiums. On the Sunday of the vote, the SP announced an initiative for a public health insurance fund. However, the electorate has already voted against a single health insurance fund twice: In 2007 with 71.2 percent and in 2014 with 61.9 percent.
REFORM PACKAGE: In the summer session, the Council of States approved a new package to combat rising healthcare costs. Alongside many smaller revisions to the Health Insurance Act (KVG), this is the third major reform package since a group of experts outlined dozens of measures to combat the explosion in costs in 2017. The proposed measures include lowering drug prices, the introduction of networks for coordinated care, adjustments to billable tax points and more powers for pharmacies. The matter is now before the relevant committee of the National Council.
FRANCHISE: The Council of States wants to increase the minimum health insurance deductible. On Thursday, on the very day that the health insurance premiums for 2025 were announced, it approved a corresponding motion from the SVP. This is intended to better reflect the current cost situation in basic insurance. The Federal Council agrees with this. Today, the minimum deductible for basic insurance is CHF 300.
EMERGENCY FEE: In future, people who go to a hospital emergency ward for a minor case without instructions from a healthcare professional will have to pay a fee. The federal parliament is considering proposals to this effect.
DIGITALIZATION: Digitalization in the healthcare sector is to be promoted so that medical clarifications are not carried out more than once. This involves the Digisanté program on the one hand and the electronic patient dossier on the other. With these two approaches, the various healthcare players should be able to exchange data better with each other in order to avoid duplication and thus additional costs.
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