The health system likes it, the costs don't
A survey reveals it - Marked differences between the population questioned and the group of "opinion leaders" on the causes of the explosion in costs and possible remedies
BERN – The Swiss appreciate the quality of the Swiss healthcare system, but criticize the constant increase in costs.
A survey published today - carried out on the Internet and in which 538 French-speaking, 538 Swiss-German and 206 Ticino-born took part - indicates that for the 21% of the sample the quality/price ratio of the healthcare system is "bad" and for the 41% "passable" . As for the explosion in costs, the main culprits are identified in the pharmaceutical industry and the health insurance funds.
The pollsters also consulted a group of "opinion leaders" - a total of 348 people including politicians, entrepreneurs and representatives of the economic, cultural and scientific worlds - and the results were varied: the quality/price ratio was judged negatively by the 10%, “passable” by 26%. As for the rising costs, two main causes have been indicated: the aging of the population and technological advances in medicine.
Opinions were also divergent on the possible remedies: among the population, 67% said they were in favor of a single sickness fund and 52% stated that they shared the proposal to limit premiums to 10% of the insured's gross income. For the 65% of the "leaders" it would instead be necessary to reduce the number of public hospitals and increase the minimum deductibles from 300 to 500 francs. The idea of creating, on a voluntary basis, a "health savings account", deductible from taxes, should also be evaluated.
The poll was carried out between 13 and 18 March by the Lausanne polling institute MIS on behalf of the newspaper "Le Temps".
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