by With the ever rising cost of of Swiss healthcare, the government has been hunting for savings. This week it announced that it has ordered price cuts on 350 medicines from 1 December 2023, reported RTS. © Francisco Javier Zea Lara | Dreamstime.comOn average the drugs on the list will cost 10% less and deliver an overall expected saving of CHF 120 million a year. This comes out at around CHF 14 per resident, not a particularly significant sum when set against an average annual health insurance bill of around CHF 4,300. The medicines on this year’s list are for treatments in the areas of gastroenterology, hormone therapy and oncology, among others. A full list of the drugs can be found here. The price cuts are likely to lead to savings of an estimated 120 million francs, wrote the
Topics:
Investec considers the following as important: Editor's Choice, health, Personal finance
This could be interesting, too:
Investec writes Swiss health care costs continued to rise in 2022
Investec writes Swiss parliament rejects adding dental care to basic insurance
Investec writes Study shows how Swiss doctors and hospitals overcharge
Investec writes Health care cost brake initiative to go to a vote
With the ever rising cost of of Swiss healthcare, the government has been hunting for savings. This week it announced that it has ordered price cuts on 350 medicines from 1 December 2023, reported RTS.
On average the drugs on the list will cost 10% less and deliver an overall expected saving of CHF 120 million a year. This comes out at around CHF 14 per resident, not a particularly significant sum when set against an average annual health insurance bill of around CHF 4,300.
The medicines on this year’s list are for treatments in the areas of gastroenterology, hormone therapy and oncology, among others. A full list of the drugs can be found here.
The price cuts are likely to lead to savings of an estimated 120 million francs, wrote the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH).
From 1 December 2023, these drugs will become cheaper. However, according to FOPH, objections from drug companies are pending against some orders so it remains unclear whether these prices will all be reduced.
FOPH initiated a similar round of price cuts in 2022, which led to savings of CHF 80 million. Every year, the BAG checks a third of the medicines covered by basic insurance to see whether they are effective, useful and economical. Over the years, CHF 740 million has been saved.
More on this:
RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
For more stories like this on Switzerland follow us on Facebook and Twitter.