Hi, this is Paula from Zurich in Switzerland, where it’s health insurance and not the recent downfall of a major bank that’s dominating discussions in the run-up to the country’s national elections on Sunday. But before we get to that...
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Drugs and the Swiss election
When I moved from Austria to Switzerland in March I was surprised to discover there is no state health insurance here, but the law still requires you to get cover with one of the private providers.
It’s relatively easy to do and if you’re cost-conscious you can just opt for a basic policy — where insurers are forbidden to profit on the premiums — or take out a pricier supplemental plan.
So far, so good.
The problem for many other people living in a country famed for its high standard of living is that things are changing and premiums are about to become a lot more expensive.
A Swiss family with two kids will face an average increase of 1,000 Swiss francs ($1,115) in premium costs next year, according to NZZ which will reflect the biggest increase in more than 10 years. A single person in Zurich like me faces a hike of more than 8% a year.
I can tell you it’s not easy to swallow in a country where health care costs are already among the highest in the world. Swiss voters cited rising health insurance premiums as their biggest concern in polls ahead of Switzerland’s national elections on Sunday.
That’s impressive in a year where voters have been rather spoilt for choice on things to be angry about. After all, the country’s banking system has been in turmoil following the failure of Credit Suisse earlier this year, and anti-immigrant sentiment is leading to a surge in popularity for Switzerland’s right wing People’s Party.
Insurers say they have no choice but to raise prices as premiums are not covering the shortfall in healthcare costs. They argue they’ve already had to tap reserves to get through the pandemic and difficult capital market conditions, while costs continue to rise as an aging population uses more increasingly expensive drugs.
The Swiss government has been trying to find a remedy to mounting healthcare costs and from next year will require patients to pay more if they choose an original drug instead of a cheaper available generic alternative.
In Switzerland only 25% of the drugs used are generics compared with 70% in other European countries and 90% in the US, according to Sandoz, a Swiss maker of copycat medicines. Taking a generic drug may not always be possible, especially not for some cancer treatments, immunosuppressants and antidiabetics, but still huge amounts of money could be saved.
It is just probably going to be a hard sell to convince Swiss people they must now pay higher insurance premiums and more at the pharmacy for the drugs that they are used to. — Paula Doenecke.
