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
Category: Switzerland
Switzerland’s healthcare is now the world’s most expensive.
Switzerland’s healthcare is now the world’s most expensive. That should worry the people who have the responsibility to the citizens of this country, the FOPH, the politicians and the health insurers. It certainly worries us, the people who are paying for it. On 24 January 2023, I wrote a letter to the members of the… Continue reading Switzerland’s healthcare is now the world’s most expensive.
Mensonges et statistiques
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics” – Mark Twain HRV Health a été créé pour faire face au coût insoutenable des soins de santé en Suisse. Nous sommes loin d’atteindre cet objectif. Depuis mon arrivée ici il y a quatre ans et demi, ma prime d’assurance maladie a augmenté de… Continue reading Mensonges et statistiques
Lies, damn lies, and statistics
“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics” – Mark Twain HRV Health was created to address the unsustainable cost of healthcare in Switzerland. We are far from meeting that objective. Since arriving here four and a half years ago, my health insurance premium has increased by almost 27%. Over the same period… Continue reading Lies, damn lies, and statistics
COVID-19 vaccination efficacy in Switzerland
On 28 November 2021, Switzerland passed one million COVID-19 infections, in a country with a population just short of 8.8 million[1]https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/switzerland-population/. At that point 11,488 people in Switzerland had died from the virus. At the same time, 67% of the country had been vaccinated[2]https://www.covid19.admin.ch/en/epidemiologic/test?demoView=graph. As of today, some six months later, just short of 14,000… Continue reading COVID-19 vaccination efficacy in Switzerland
The Healthcare crises
Healthcare costs are rising at an unsustainable rate. In America they are already 17.9% of GDP. The other rich economies are on the same trajectory. Yet even with their sophisticated healthcare systems, it is these same countries whose hospitals were overwhelmed during the Covid-19 pandemic. The data show us why. The countries that suffered the… Continue reading The Healthcare crises
Switzerland’s healthcare problem
Switzerland’s healthcare system is amongst the world’s best, when you need it, and the worst if you don’t need it or can’t afford it. Insurance premiums finance the health system. As with all insurance there is cross-subsidisation. But with Switzerland’s healthcare, it’s the poor subsidising the rich. Switzerland’s healthcare is the world’s second most expensive, after America.… Continue reading Switzerland’s healthcare problem