According to the price comparison website Comparis.ch obligatory Swiss health insurance premiums are set to rise by an average of 5% in 2023, in some cases as much as 10%. Photo by Karolina Grabowska on Pexels.comKey drivers of the rise are the impact of the pandemic and pressure by the federal government on insurance companies to refund reserves to policy holders, said Felix Schneuwly, a health insurance expert at the company. Before the refunds a number of insurance companies had sufficient reserves to absorb unexpected cost fluctuations. In some cases rather than refunds insurers set premiums artificially low to consume their reserves. Schneuwly is also critical of government efforts to reduce costs. Rapid complex reform has overburdened the system with administration and
Topics:
Investec considers the following as important: Editor's Choice, Healthcare cost Switzerland, Personal finance, Politics
This could be interesting, too:
Investec writes Swiss National Bank to issue new money
Claudio Grass writes Gold climbing from record high to record high: why buy now?
Investec writes End of lifelong widows’ pensions moves closer to reality
Investec writes Swiss government deficit shrinks further
According to the price comparison website Comparis.ch obligatory Swiss health insurance premiums are set to rise by an average of 5% in 2023, in some cases as much as 10%.
Key drivers of the rise are the impact of the pandemic and pressure by the federal government on insurance companies to refund reserves to policy holders, said Felix Schneuwly, a health insurance expert at the company.
Before the refunds a number of insurance companies had sufficient reserves to absorb unexpected cost fluctuations. In some cases rather than refunds insurers set premiums artificially low to consume their reserves.
Schneuwly is also critical of government efforts to reduce costs. Rapid complex reform has overburdened the system with administration and bureaucracy, he said. In addition, the government’s approach to improving healthcare quality is creating a headwind for cost improvements.
The expert recommends more uniform pricing of outpatient care, simplification of regulations around quality, greater competition around quality, a greater focus on effective economic treatments and greater flexibility on the rules around how healthcare is delivered and charged for.
Beyond 2023, Schneuwly expects annual price rises to level out at between 2% and 3%.
More on this:
Comparis article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.