On 21?August 2019 the Federal Council adopted new measures to combat rising costs in the public healthcare sector.(1)

With this first set of measures, the Federal Council intends to provide all stakeholders with the instruments needed to reduce costs and expects to save several hundred million Swiss francs annually.

In particular, these measures include:

  • experimental and innovative cost-cutting pilot projects which deviate from the law (eg, new insurance models and integrated care projects);
  • better-structured tariff negotiations through the creation of a national tariff organisation in the ambulatory sector and a new obligation on service providers and insurers to provide for measures for specific medical areas in contracts covering all of Switzerland;
  • a reference price system to reduce the cost of generic medicinal products. Compulsory healthcare insurance will remunerate only this reference price; and
  • improved invoice control, as service providers will have to send copies of medical expenses to patients.

Endnotes

(1) Further information on these measures is available here.

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