Dallas Morning News Looks At Switzerland's Health System

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 13 Feb 2006 - 0:00 PDT

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The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday examined the health care system in Switzerland, where every resident is required to buy health insurance, and those who do not purchase insurance face "stiff penalties." Swiss insurance companies and providers each year negotiate health care prices, which then are reviewed and approved by local Swiss governments, the Morning News reports. The government sets price controls, according to the Morning News. An average family of four pays about $680 a month in premiums. Swiss insurers charge a premium for each family member, with children having a lower premium than adults. The government subsidizes premiums for lower-income individuals. Deductibles and copayments for the Swiss are comparable to those in the U.S., the Morning News reports. Besides selling other plans, Swiss health care insurers must offer a basic health care plan priced without regard to risk, and they cannot make a profit from it. The companies compete with each other by offering various deductibles and supplemental benefits, according to the Morning News. Average annual premiums for family coverage under the basic plan are about $8,167. U.S. families with employer-based health coverage contribute an average of $2,713 in yearly premiums for family coverage, according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust. U.S. employers contribute an average of $8,167 for family coverage, for a total of $10,880 a year, the survey says. Health care spending in Switzerland averaged $3,781 per person in 2003, compared with $5,635 per person in the U.S. Switzerland spends a larger percentage (11.5%) of its national income on health care than any other country besides the U.S., which spends 16%. "People in Switzerland realize what [health care] costs do to American business, and they don't want to add to the anti-competitive burden of Swiss businesses in the global economy," Felix Gutzwiller, a doctor who heads the University of Zurich Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine, said. He added that Swiss citizens "do not want employers to get so much into their private life and lifestyle." While many Swiss believe the quality of medical care in their country "is among the best in the world," others say the health system has to high of prices and encourages people to remain in hospitals longer than necessary, and insurers offer too many "bewildering choices," the Morning News reports. Gaudenz Silberschmidt, head of the international affairs division of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health, said, "Theoretically, it's consumer-driven. But practically, no," adding that insurers "offer thousands of different premium plans, and when it's that many, it means it's not transparent" (Landers, Dallas Morning News, 2/7).

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