I see that the Swiss are voting next month on a proposal to introduce a single health insurance provider and do away with the existing 30/40 companies that exist today.
The logic behind this is that maybe a centralised provider that provides just the basic package might be able to do a better job in keeping prices down. The few Swiss I know here are of the opinion that it can't be any worse than the existing system.
however it does seem doomed as the German part seem to be against and French and Italian are favouring the initiative.

Anyone have any figures on this proposal and how it might affect our premiums?

My doctor says to vote 'no'. He reckons that a single health fund would be large, bureaucratic and inefficient...

how is one provider going to help? Stifle competition, close the market.

the question should be - does Switzerland want the NHS?

The costs of the current system are already substantially lower than in the United States. Once upon a time, when I was a leftist, I thought that a single-provider system would be most equitable, and I believe that this is often the argument put forth by the SP and the Greens (who are further to the left than the SP). There were some interesting articles in the past in the New England Journal of Medicine about the Swiss system and its advantages / disadvantages. I have them saved in PDF format if anyone is interested in reading an American perspective on the current system.

Well apparently there are 87 health insurance companies in CH so I can’t see the people voting to put them out of business.

Personally I’m all for competition, the more the merrier, but I do I feel that here competition is restricted to what the Cartels and Syndicates dictate and I do wonder whether we really have true competition in all sectors. Maybe a single provider could streamline the sector and reduce costs?

A brief article on the issue.
http://www2.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissi...=1168368092000

I would love to read the article please. If it is no trouble

You don't want what Canada has meaning "NHS", that would be my answer. I always envied the Swiss system.

Will pass it along. I mixed up the journal... not NEJM, but JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association).

Depending on where you live!

We pay twice as much here in Basel as we would in Zurich (well, Dietikon) for premiums. Plus your yearly franchise. Plus 10% of all costs before reimbursement.......

I meant in terms of GDP. The numbers vary as different articles cite different surveys, but the US is currently spending between 14 and 16 percent (I believe it is 16 percent to be honest) of its GDP per year on healthcare, despite the fact that 47 million+ are uninsured. On the other hand, the Swiss spend around 11 percent of GDP per year, about the same as in Canada and Germany, with services that are probably on par with those available in the current US system (compared to Canada's massive wait lists).

In terms of premiums, the state of Massachusetts has enacted a law requiring all residents to purchase health insurance. They're struggling to put together an insurance package that is $300 a month, I believe the cheapest they have been able to calculate so far is $400 a month. I've been following it half-heatedly in the Boston Globe online.

I just googled and came up with this: http://www.boston.com/news/local/art...drug_coverage/

This is a bit off topic... Sorry

Thank you for that article, very intersting. If I don't get Swiss retirement permits we will go to the USA since I'm American and Mass might be a good choice since I like it there.

I do have a question, if the Swiss do vote to do single health care, does this mean that there will be no private choices anymore. That you won't be able to get a private room with a private nurse?

Here you have no choice you take what and when you get or leave and go to the USA for decent healthcare which is what I do but we still have to pay into the high taxes here. My husband's income tax is between 45 - 50% if I remember correctly.

I doubt the initiative will be accepted. They rarely succeed and the Swiss government is against this one. You'd get your private nurse etc. whatever - provided this was specified, otherwise you'd share a room with 1 to 3 others. Anyway the initiative is about the health funds, not the heath care.

I trust you don't intend coming over here just to be ill...

Well Massachusetts is know as "Taxachusetts" in the US, but that is a rather outdated label. Here is the best place to compare taxation in American states -- http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/tax_stru.html .

If you want to read the articles on the current Swiss system I need your email address. I tried to get in touch with you, but it didn't seem to work. And as to choice under the proposed system, you would be required to purchase the government's health insurance, with the rates determined by the government and your income level. I am not sure how it will impact the choice of patients. The SP, which helped produce the current proposal, compares it to the Danish system. If you are interested, look more into what has been said about Denmark's healthcare system on the internet.

There are a lot of details about the current proposal that have not been explained in great depth, which is one of the major criticism being used by the referendum's opponents. Neither side is able to agree on the costs as well, or how high the premiums would need to be set.

Spmull, thank you I will read and look at the Danish as you suggest.

My e-mail is abc.xyz.2000@hotmail.com. Thank you. This is all very interesting to me.

AbFab, thank you for your reply. Most appreciated. No, I hope I never get sick again. But it is a concern. I had breast cancer 6-1/2 years ago and as people get older although I don't think of myself as old, middle aged but not old, I think that healthcare is a concern for retirement.

So are taxes and quality of life. I find that as we get older our priorities change and so does lifestyle in some ways.

Switzerland has everything on our list, quality healthcare, close to skiing, lots of photography opportunities for my husband to do his hobby, easy travelling to other parts of europe easier than flying across the atlantic and can be done by train which is probably cheaper and for me easier than by plane. In all honesty, Switzerland looks like it has everything to offer both of what is on our list of retirement living. We would be happy to live in a very small town. I can even play Jass.

I go out of my way now to buy swiss made products if possible. I grew up on "only Swiss cheese and chocolates" I didn't eat an american candy bar till I was in my 20s. Sometimes a Swiss aquaintance brings back a biernbrot or some bieber. Sorry off topic.

So yes, healthcare is a big concern for me, but no I don't want to ever need it. I would happily pay the premiums and never use it. I just want to know that good high quality is available should I ever need it.