Compare Health Insurance Rates – The Truth About Low Rates in Switzerland:
Introduction
Health insurance coverage is mandatory for residents of Switzerland. The rule has been strictly enforced since 1996 and made compulsory thereafter. After the rollout of this compulsory insurance policy, the premium rates have skyrocketed kicking lower or middle-income families out of the safety net.
With stagnant income rates and doubling premium rates, health insurance has become a luxury for the middle-income classes, not to talk about the vulnerability of the low-income classes. Although health insurance comparison had helped people to some extent, it was not completely helpful with various other factors in play.
But, observing the lows of the health insurance sector, the Switzerland government has eventually brought in a lot of changes that altered the face of the insurance industry. Now, Switzerland is one of the very few countries to provide the lowest premium health insurance coverage to its residents. However, the insurance sector is not regulated or managed by the government. That brings us to questions like “Why are insurance rates so low in Switzerland?” “How Switzerland offers affordable health insurance plans?” and alike.
The health care sector
The health insurance sector in Switzerland is decentralized. According to Switzerland’s law, insurance companies are not allowed to exploit or make a profit from basic health insurance plans. This makes the basic health insurance plan extremely accessible and affordable to people across the Swiss land.
Switzerland’s government spends 12% of its GDP on its health care system. Hence, health care services in Switzerland are extremely expensive. To compensate for the same, health insurance registration has been made compulsory for all the natural and foreign residents in the country to make health care affordable and accessible to all. In addition to these, health insurance comparison[https://www.healthinsurance-swiss.ch/ | French | German] helps policyholders make a clever decision.
Liberal policies
The health care system in Switzerland is a right combination of public, private, and subsidized private systems. The insured individual has complete freedom to choose the model of his wish and also the plan that he likes.
While the public system entirely subsidizes medical costs and takes care of the comprehensive health care needs of the patient, the Private system only compensates for the additional cost. In the three cases, the insured are supposed to pay only a minimal premium whereas the additional costs are taken care of by the government. Besides governmental support, health insurance comparison can help avoid unnecessary and avoidable costs.
Governmental regulation
Although the health insurance system is decentralized and the government doesn’t have a lot of say in the fee and associated issues, the cantonal governments in Switzerland influence the premium fees and other insurance associated costs either directly or indirectly. They do it by subsidizing medical costs directly,
incentivizing hospitals and medical units to provide affordable health care services to their residents, and compensating additional costs. All these efforts add up to ease the burden on the residents. Hence, insurance costs are on the lower side in Switzerland. Even health insurance comparison doesn’t reflect any changes as the basic insurance plans are highly regulated.
Cost-sharing method
One distinguishable factor that makes Switzerland’s health insurance system a star as compared to other countries is the cost-sharing method. The below process is followed to make sure the insured bears the minimal medical costs.
Insureds can select their own annual deductible amount, which makes it choose them a realistic and minimum sum to make sure they don’t spend all of their income. However, higher deductibles attract lower premiums in this case. But, the Switzerland government advice against such practices to avert risks.
If the premium amount is 8% higher than their income level, the Switzerland government subsidizes their insurance plan.
Switzerland residents who receive social benefits from the government are entitled to receive medical resources from the government. Hence, it is estimated that 35% of the population is entitled to government medical assistance.
The Switzerland government also intervenes to reduce additional costs on medicines, laboratories, and other medical devices costs to minimize the medical costs incurred by patients and insureds.
Although the insurance cost varies from one insurance company to another, it remains the same within one company. According to local law, an organization cannot charge a different premium fee for different sections of people. The insurance cost should be the same for all ages, genders, and classes of people.
Conclusion
For basic and supplemental insurance plans, policyholders are supposed to pay their own premium fee. But, if the premium fee is higher compared to their income level, the remaining or additional amount will be compensated by the Switzerland government. The basic insurance plans are already subsidized to the maximum level and the government bears the additional cost, which makes Switzerland’s insurance cost very low as compared to other countries. Health insurance comparison can further lower the costs incurred.
As basic plans are not allowed to be commercialized or made a profit, they are naturally affordable. The basic insurance plan covers a lot of expenses like hospitalization, medication, basic treatment, and medical assistance. However, a basic insurance plan is limited to only some kind of ailments.
For other emergency needs like pregnancy treatment or treatment for the accident, a supplemental insurance plan is needed. But, the patient can receive treatment, if their condition requires immediate medical intervention. A lot of medical costs and insurance expenses are reduced this way by health insurance comparison before enrolling with a health insurance plan.
