Category: Health insurance

Switzerland’s health insurance market

Background Twenty nine years ago, the Swiss health sector faced two key problems: rising inequality and rising costs.  Both problems resulted from the rise of for-profit insurance companies. Traditionally, the Swiss bought into private insurance plans through their employers. Because these insurers were not selective about whom they covered, very nearly all employed people had… Continue reading Switzerland’s health insurance market

Stealing hope

A.L.S is a death sentence. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a fatal type of motor neuron disease. It is characterized by progressive degeneration of nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain. It’s often called Lou Gehrig’s disease, after a famous baseball player who died from it[1]Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The muscles don’t get nutrition, and… Continue reading Stealing hope

Our problem with the FOPH

When I first read Health2030 – the Federal Council’s health policy strategy for the period 2020–2030, I was excited at the prospect of a government agency that understood the challenges it was facing, and had a clear plan of how to address them[1]The Federal Council’s health policy strategy 2020–2030. It seemed to have objectives for… Continue reading Our problem with the FOPH

Buying votes

In August 2005, Raghuram Rajan, at the time a virtually unknown economist at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business, predicted the financial crisis[1]Larry Summers vs. the long-termers. He was at a conference of high-powered economists who had convened in part to honor Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Larry Summers[2]Served as 71st United States… Continue reading Buying votes

Hungerstreik

Die Gesundheitsversorgung in der Schweiz kostet heute mehr als 11.000 US-Dollar pro Person und Jahr und ist damit die teuerste der Welt. Gemäss KVG, dem Krankenpflege- und Krankenversicherungsgesetz, ist die Versicherung obligatorisch, und die Ärmsten werden vom Wohnkanton subventioniert. Abgesehen davon, dass es eine Lücke zwischen dem Gesetz und der Praxis gibt. Ich falle in… Continue reading Hungerstreik

Hunger strike

Healthcare in Switzerland now costs in excess of US$11,000 per person per annum, making it the world’s most expensive. Under the LAMal, the legislation covering healthcare and healthcare insurance, insurance is mandatory, and the poorest are subsidised by the canton in which they live.  Except that there is a gap between the law and the… Continue reading Hunger strike

Generics – a simple way to reduce healthcare costs

Pharmaceuticals constitute 15.6% of worldwide healthcare costs. That number is already being reduced in countries that have adopted an active policy to use generic drugs instead of their more expensive branded equivalents. Understanding the mechanics is important. What are generics drugs? Generic drugs are the pharmaceutical equivalent of the original product that was covered under… Continue reading Generics – a simple way to reduce healthcare costs

Why Insurance wastes money

Insurance is big business. It makes huge amounts of money. And it wastes money. At $5.23 trillion[1]Gross premiums written by the insurance industry worldwide 2000 to 2020, if it were a country, the insurance industry would be the world’s third largest economy. The arithmetic of how insurance works needs explaining. Insurance is a form of… Continue reading Why Insurance wastes money

Letter to the Swiss Federal Parliament

I have regularly expressed my concerns over the unsustainable rise in the cost of health insurance in Switzerland. One of my first articles was about Switzerland’s healthcare problem. So I wrote a letter to our members of parliament. Each letter was personally addressed to the recipient. This is what it said: The cost of health… Continue reading Letter to the Swiss Federal Parliament