– Premiums should take the lift again, confirms Bern
According to the Confederation, it is not yet clear how much the premiums will increase, but the high health costs will be reflected.
2022 premiums should start to rise again, confirms the Confederation (illustration).
KEYSTONE/CHRISTIAN BEUTLER
After a brief lull in 2021, policyholders should return to the fund this year. Without going into figures, the Confederation confirms without surprise that the high costs of health will be reflected in health insurance premiums.
It is not yet clear how much the premiums will increase. Several factors, which will have an influence, are not yet quantifiable. This was revealed on Tuesday during a discussion with the media Thomas Christen, deputy director of the Federal Office of Public Health (OFSP).
SantéSuisse, the umbrella of insurers, already warned in January of an increase in premiums to come. The 5.1% increase in healthcare costs per insured person observed in 2021 is the highest since 2013. And it does not take into account the costs of vaccination against Covid-19, which reached 265 million francs.
Catch-up effect
The year 2020 had been marked by the pandemic. Non-emergency operations were banned for months and patients became more cautious with procedures. This resulted in an average reduction in premiums of 0.2% at the national level.
But last year, there seems to have been a “catch-up” effect for many interventions that had been postponed, according to Thomas Christen. And to expect for 2022 also a disproportionate increase in health costs compared to wages.
Measures discussed in Parliament
At the political level, actions have already been taken to curb rising healthcare costs. Parliament adopted a first package of measures last summer. A second component is under discussion. And a third should arrive on the table in the second half of 2022.
The instruments proposed by the Federal Council are not unanimous under the Dome. For example, the reference price system for drugs whose patent has expired should not see the light of day. And the outline of an indirect counter-project to the popular initiative “For lower premiums” launched by Le Center arouses skepticism.
In particular, the government wants to set cost targets. “They would not endanger the supply,” said Thomas Christen. And to emphasize that the Federal Council does not provide that processing can no longer be carried out once these objectives have been exceeded.
Individual responsibility
The deputy director of the FOPH, however, insisted on individual responsibility. “Patients should only receive necessary treatments.” Admittedly, it is not up to the authorities to define which services are appropriate and which are not, but providers have a duty to draw up lists.
The Confederation wishes to put in place other measures to curb the rise in health costs. The prices in the laboratories should be analyzed and reduced during the year, illustrated Thomas Christen.
The authorities have already been examining the approximately 3,000 drugs on the specialty list for a long time – around 1,000 a year. It is difficult to increase the pace of verifications, according to the deputy director of the FOPH, because this work requires a lot of resources.
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