Will the health insurance premiums of 2010 rise to five percent due to lump compensation?

Will the health insurance premiums rise up to five percent? Yes, in the worst case, as predicted by the biggest health insurance company in Switzerland, Helsana. According to their forecasts, the premiums for the year 2010 are rising for three to five percent. Reason: In about 300 days, the new hospital financing and, with it, the new lump compensation are coming into force. But the president of the Swiss DRG AG, Carlo Conti, also includes a minimum rise of premiums of two percent into the calculation.

As of the year 2010, the hospitals are compensated by a flat rate for their services. In technical terms, this flat rate is called DRG (Diagnosis Related Groups). By way of this pricing model, patients are not assessed by the number of days spent in hospital, but by the services rendered via the hospitals. The flat rate´s goal is to create more transparency within the hospitals, which shall eventually promote the competition and ,therewith, the quality of the hospitals.

The adoption of lump compensations for hospitals has its benefits: In order to be able treat as many patients as possible, more ambulant then stationary treatments are to be effected in the future to perform economic activity more efficiently. The development in the medical field already permits the treatment of ever more illnesses and the performance of treatments in ambulant fashion.

The less the canton pays, the more the premiums rise

The increase of ambulant treatments in medical offices and hospitals leads necessarily to rising premiums of the insured. The reason for which being that, as of the year 2012, the cantons have to participate in stationary treatments with 55 percent. On the other hand, ambulant treatments are charged by the health insurance companies, the effects of which the insured individual will of course feel.

Through lump compensations, the health insurance companies contribute with maximally 45 percent to the investment costs of the stationary services of the hospitals. This alone can lead to a rise of premiums of two to three percent.

By the adoption of lump compensations, the hospitals are furthermore coerced to get a grip on the costs. The reason for which being that the public hospitals had barely any incentive to save. Those hospitals were rewarded which kept their patient as long as possible in the hospital bed. But now, deficit guarantees fall away by way of lump compensation.

Comparing premiums pays off now more than ever

As was to be expected, the costs for the adoption of lump compensations were shifted to the premiums of the insured individuals. But in order that you to get a grip on the costs of the premiums, it particularly pays off to compare the premiums and services of the various health insurance companies.  For this purpose, there are practical internet comparison services and health insurance company premium calculators.