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Country profiles of health system responses to the crisis | Switzerland
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The benefits package
• Removal of eyeglasses from statutory coverage in 2011; reintroduced for
children only following pressure from parliament (2012).
• New decision criteria for statutory coverage of very expensive treatments,
particularly new cancer drugs, introduced by the Supreme Court: health
outcomes (survival time in months) and the size of patient groups needing
expensive treatment will be taken into account (2011, 2012).
User charges
• No response reported.
Changes to health service planning, purchasing and delivery
Prices of medical goods
• The Federal Council reduced prescription drug prices by applying an exchange
rate of CHF 1.29/€ instead of CHF 1.58/€ to many drugs (2012).
Salaries and motivation of health sector workers
• No response reported.
Payment to providers
• Payments for laboratory tests in primary care medical offices were reduced by
10% (2007). This provoked a strong reaction from primary physicians in the
form of an initiative call for, among others, support of training, setting up
practices and purchasing equipment, and securing incomes of primary care
physicians. As primary care physicians were not satisfied with the measures
proposed in response to these demands by the Swiss Government in its “Master
Plan for Primary Care and Family Medicine”, the initiative was maintained
and a popular vote may take place in 2014 or 2015.
• Introduction of a DRG-based payment system for hospital care at the national
level replacing per diem payments and global budgets (2012).
Overhead costs: restructuring the Ministry of Health and purchasing agencies
• Growth in personnel costs of health administration (both at the national
and cantonal levels) was frozen or cut (up to 10%) since 2008.
Provider infrastructure and capital investment
• Some investments blocked or postponed.
• Investment costs included in DRG costing (2012).