The next premium shock is imminent in the autumn

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When the health insurers announced 6.6 percent higher premiums last autumn, even the otherwise rather sober “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” spoke of a “premium shock”. This year, policyholders are threatened with déjà vu. The difference from 2022: Everything could get much worse.

Current figures for January and February show an increase of 7.5 percent in costs per insured person. Drivers are particularly the provision of medicines and care services in homes.

Although the evaluated period is still short, Santésuisse director Verena Nold (60) is concerned about the values. In an interview with SonntagsBlick, she says, “If we don’t act, we’ll drive the health system to the wall.”

Swiss are concerned

The new family barometer from Pro Familia impressively shows how much the rising premiums are a burden for families in Switzerland. The subjects of ‘healthcare premiums’ and ‘health’ are the most preoccupied by the respondents. Housing costs, inflation or climate change are lower on the list.

In the study, four in ten families indicated that their family income was just enough to live together. Six percent admit to not being able to make ends meet with their money. More than half of the families confirmed that they had forgo medical or therapeutic treatment at least once because of cost.

SVP Kingdom alderman Martina Bircher (38) is not surprised by the approaching premium increase. “In recent years, our healthcare system has been constantly expanding,” says Aargau’s health politician: the inclusion of complementary medicine in primary care, the healthcare initiative adopted in 2021 or the pharmaceutical industry’s recently launched security of supply initiative.

It is also up to the patient

Excessive claims are also problematic, according to Bircher. The fact that only single rooms are planned for the new construction of the Aarau Canton Hospital is not necessarily helpful if you want to save. Aarburg’s head of social affairs also criticizes the mentality of individual patients: “If you go to the emergency room because of every little thing, you won’t have to be surprised later about rising premiums.”

For Bircher it is clear: “We can only control the exploding costs in healthcare if we downsize the services.” In other words: basic treatments are covered by the compulsory basic insurance, the rest is your own responsibility and therefore part of an additional insurance.

The “Health Atlas” published by the federal government last week makes it clear that there are regions in Switzerland with an oversupply. The differences are remarkable – and not always medically explained. For example, five times more sleeping pills are distributed in Ticino than in Central Switzerland. And nowhere else are so many tests performed for the early detection of prostate cancer as in Appenzell Innerrhoden.

Whatever the atlas reveals: how often treatments are performed whose usefulness is not scientifically proven or at least disputed.

This is where SP National Council member Barbara Gysi wants to start. A treatment often just serves to fill the doctor’s pockets, says the St. Gallen resident of SonntagsBlick. “There is huge savings potential.”

Free market as a solution?

In addition, Gysi wants to withdraw hospitals from the free market and lower the prices of medicines. But she knows there is a lot of resistance – from the pharmaceutical industry, specialists or insurers. But: “You can’t cut corners without hurting someone!”

Health politician Gysi rejects a curtailment of the catalog of services, as envisaged by Martina Bircher. Efficiency, also in terms of costs, is best achieved with information about the benefits of a therapy. The treatment of chronically ill patients in particular is poorly coordinated today. This often leads to duplication and additional treatments without alleviating the suffering. Last but not least, this shortage is behind the far too high costs.

Gysi is convinced that the introduction of the electronic patient file will remedy this. However, data protection activists are fiercely opposed to this move.
Conclusion: There is only one point of agreement in the healthcare sector: it remains complicated.

Source:Blick