Swiss health insurers want federal government to oversee hospitals
The federal government should be responsible for Swiss hospitals, not the cantons, according to Martin Landolt, president of the health insurers association Santésuisse. The news that health premiums for 2024 will rise by an average of 8.7% next year has caused widespread consternation.
This content was published on
3 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Landolt told the Tamedia newspaper group on Wednesday that he wants to launch a popular initiative on the hospital issue.
The cantons are caught in a “gigantic conflict of interest”, said Landolt. As a result, Switzerland has “overpriced and unnecessary” hospitals, which are driving up healthcare costs.
“If decisions are made top-down, the emotional closeness is gone and the decisions become more objective,” said Landolt. He also believes that licences given to doctors should also be regulated at the national level.
Next year, Landolt plans to prepare a corresponding initiative and hold talks with party leaders, associations, and interest groups.
The initiative would aim to ensure national planning and at the same time take “minimal regional needs” into account. Landolt also sees a solution to the shortage of skilled workers in national hospital planning. Overall, fewer staff would be needed, he said.
‘Little drive’
The representative of health insurance companies insists that insurers would not contribute to increasing Swiss healthcare costs. Rather, they would advocate for lower premiums.
According to Landolt, several actors are responsible for the 2024 increase in health insurance premiums by an average of 8.7%. “It is a cumulation of various political authorities that show little drive,” he said. He would have like to have heard Health Minister Alain Berset talk more strongly on this issue in the past, he added.
Next year’s health insurance premiums will see the biggest rise for over ten years. The decisive factor for the increase is rising costs, the Federal Office of Public Health announced on Tuesday. These have increased more than expected since the second half of 2021 and especially during 2023. More doctor visits and outpatient hospital services as well as more expensive medicines have caused the surge. In 2023, the premium income will not cover the costs of around CHF35 billion to the health insurance companies. That was already the case in 2022.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Swiss money laundering office registers record number of reports
This content was published on
The Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) registered a record number of reports of suspicious activity last year.
Two teens accused of planning terror attack released from custody
This content was published on
The Schaffhausen judiciary has released the two teenagers from custody who allegedly planned bomb attacks in Switzerland.
OECD: Sluggish economic activity slowing growth in Switzerland
This content was published on
Sluggish economic activity at the start of the year is weighing on growth in Switzerland, with GDP expected to fall to 1.1% in 2024.
Report finds mistakes which led to Swiss government data breach
This content was published on
Mistakes were made by both the government and internet company Xplain in the case of a criminal cyber-attack on the Bern-based IT business.
Swiss government wants better gender balance in federal administration
This content was published on
New Swiss government personnel management targets say there must be even more female managers in the federal administration.
Swiss national science foundation funded over 5,000 projects in 2023
This content was published on
In 2023, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) provided a total of CHF961 million worth of funding towards research projects.
Switzerland invites 160 delegations to June Ukraine peace talks
This content was published on
Russia is currently not among the delegations invited to talks aimed at helping bring about peace in the conflict between Moscow and Ukraine.
Survey: air travel most popular way to go on holidays for Swiss
This content was published on
Despite the climate crisis, flying is the most popular mode of transport for private travel – particularly among young, urban and high-income travellers.
Swiss government to use phone data to identify asylum seekers
This content was published on
From April 2025, authorities plan to be able to analyse data from mobile phones, computers and other data carriers to identify asylum seekers.
Swiss Hospital Association director says single health insurance is ‘worth considering’
This content was published on
"The pressure is so great that a revolution seems inevitable," said Anne-Geneviève Bütikofer, director of the Swiss Hospital Association, H+.
Pandemic impact on Swiss healthcare bill becomes apparent
This content was published on
Swiss healthcare spending rose 5.9% in 2021, largely inflated by emergency state funding to combat the Covid-19 pandemic.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.