“Reducing costs in healthcare is a utopia”

Health insurance premiums increased by 6.6 percent in 2023. Premiums have fallen only once in the last 15 years, 0.2 percent in 2022. ÖKK boss Stefan Schena (62) sees no apparent trend reversal: “After all, premiums are nothing more than a reflection of these rising costs.”

We age and stay healthy longer. Medicine is advancing and more healthcare is being purchased. “Reducing costs in healthcare is just a utopia,” Schena said in an interview with “Switzerland Weekend.”

Healthcare costs should not rise too fast

The outgoing ÖKK boss therefore sees no point in aiming to lower premiums: “The target should remain that health costs do not rise more than economic growth.” However, the economic importance of health should not be forgotten. “The faster we get back to the business process, the higher our productivity will be and it supports us as a society,” Schena says.

But whether it always makes sense over best healthcare, Schena said, should be decided by society as a whole.

Transferring his duties to his successor Simon Neuner after more than 20 years at the end of February, Schena sees potential for the health insurance company in the Bern, Central and Eastern Swiss market regions. ÖKK wants to grow its private client business in Ticino. In the domestic market of Graubünden, it will be particularly important to maintain a market share of over 50 percent. (SDA/lui)

Source :Blick