Swiss Back Health Reform, Boosting Incentive for Outpatient Care

(Bloomberg) — Swiss voters approved a government plan to alter funding in the health-care system, a decision that could see more outpatient treatments being chosen over hospitalizations.

The bill to give state support not only to inpatient care, but also to therapies at doctor’s offices, received 53.3% in Sunday’s plebiscite, according to final government results.

So far, only hospitalizations are partially funded by Swiss cantons — the country’s states — while other therapies have to be fully paid by insurers or the treated themselves. By boosting the incentive for outpatient care, the government aimed for savings of some 440 million francs ($490 million) per year.

An alliance of Social Democrats and unions contested the reform, saying that it would hand too much power to health insurers. Polls had seen supporters and opponents essentially tied before the vote.

“I think people have realized that we need a reform of the health care system,” Green Liberal lawmaker Patrick Hässig told Swiss public broadcaster SRF. “People don’t want things to go on the way they are.” 

The expensive Swiss health-care system — in which residents bear the highest costs in Europe — frequently gives rise to heated campaign battles. In a vote in June, citizens narrowly rejected a cap on insurance premiums favored by left parties.

Three other measures that also were on the ballot were rejected:

• A plan to extend highways at congestion hotspots which regularly trigger drivers to divert on surrounding roads — only 47.3% backed the proposal.
• A plan to tighten subletting rules seeking to prevent overcharging of tenants and unlawful renting — 48.4% supported to measure.
• A plan to make claiming back rented-out properties for personal use easier — just 46.2% voted ‘yes.’

In Switzerland’s system of direct democracy, citizens vote as much as four times a year on issues ranging from taxation to whether apes should have human rights. The plebiscites can easily yield surprises, like when citizens unexpectedly voted for a 13th annual pension payment, which saw the government proposing to raise the sales tax for funding. 

(Updates with final results starting in second paragraph)

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.