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Switzerland: A Case Study in Consumer-Driven Health Care
1/11/13
Swiss insurers also have lower costs than those in the United States. This is because competition among insurers has lowered annual insurance administrative expenses per employee.
from NCPA,
1/11/13:

Switzerland is the only developed country with a long-standing consumer-driven health care system. It allows consumers to select their insurance rather than having an employer or government choose, as is the case in the United States, says Avik Roy, a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute in Forbes Magazine.

Swiss consumers primarily pay for the country's health care expenses. But if people could not afford it, the government provided subsidies.

However, the Swiss government is heavily involved in regulating insurers and providers. For instance, it requires certain benefits ranging from health spas to hospital care. Insurers are given the opportunity to offer optional policies like private hospital rooms. Some supplementary plans, for example, contain nonsmoker options, which can save a consumer up to 20 percent if they don't smoke. The government also approves insurance prices, ensuring that insurers with above-average medical costs receive transfers from those with lower costs. Doctors are also paid a uniform price.

Critics contend that in a consumer-driven health care system healthy people won't buy any insurance, raising premiums for sick people that do want to acquire health insurance. However, the Swiss model requires universal coverage and ensures that everyone pays the same price for insurance because premiums are risk-adjusted.

Read More: NCPA



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