National Council wants to enable freedom of choice in complementary medicine
Published: Wednesday, Sep 11th 2024, 19:10
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In future, every insured person should be able to choose whether or not they want their health insurance to reimburse complementary medical services. This is what the National Council is demanding.
On Wednesday, the Grand Chamber voted 94 to 86 with 10 abstentions in favor of a motion by National Councillor Philippe Nantermod (FDP/VS). The motion now goes to the Council of States.
If the small chamber also approves the motion, the Federal Council must submit an amendment to the law to make the assumption of the costs of complementary medical services under compulsory health insurance (OKP) optional. The costs of alternative medical services have been covered by basic health insurance for twelve years.
In the meantime, it has become clear that the effectiveness of numerous methods of acupuncture, anthroposophic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, classical homeopathy and phytotherapy cannot be scientifically proven, Nantermod explains. "The principle of trust is applied."
Nantermod argues that it is difficult to justify forcing all insured persons to co-finance services that are essentially based on the inner convictions of some doctors and some insured persons, but not on objective scientific data. Freedom of choice should therefore apply.
The Federal Council proposes that the motion be rejected. In its view, an option for certain service areas contradicts the principle of compulsory insurance. "Optional benefits would no longer be compulsory and would no longer be borne jointly by everyone," writes the national government in its statement.
According to the Federal Council, the creation of an option would also be "technically extremely complex". It would also not be proportionate in view of the annual costs of around CHF 18 million for complementary medical services covered by the OKP.
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