"In 1991, the Federal Council proposed a new Federal Health Insurance Law (KVG/LAMal) with three main aims (Federal Council, 1991): (1) to strengthen solidarity by introducing universal coverage and ensuring that people with low incomes receive subsidies for purchasing insurance; (2) to contain the growing costs of the health system by a host of measures targeting both the demand and the supply side; and (3) to expand the benefits basket and ensure high standards of health service provision. By Swiss standards, this law completed the legislative process relatively quickly: it was passed by Parliament in March 1994 and accepted in…
Patient Rights in Swiss Law
"Individual patient rights are enshrined in a range of cantonal laws and federal legislation, and they are included in private law, public law and penal law. This fragmented regulation contributes to considerable intransparency of patient rights and is perceived to be a barrier to increasing the mobility of patients, as it has resulted in legal uncertainty concerning the applicable law (cantonal state liability law versus federal private law) (FOPH, 2015g)."Enshrined in a variety of cantonal and federal laws, patients have the right to:"• choose their physician and hospital freely (although restrictions may apply depending on the insurance plan); "• receive…
Austrian Health System Financing
"The Austrian health system is relatively costly. Around US$5 138 was spent on health per capita in 2015 (adjusted for differences in purchasing power), about US$1 800 more than the EU average. Health expenditure in Austria is also high relative to GDP (10.2% of GDP in 2015), which is considerably above the EU average (8.7%). More than 75% of total current health expenditure is financed from public sources. About 18% of expenditure is out-of-pocket (OOP) payments, which is above the EU average (15%), while voluntary health insurance (VHI) only plays a minor role in the system. Average growth rates of…
South Korean Health System Financing
"The South Korean health care system is a mix of public and private financing. Funds for health care are raised mainly from equally important sources: mandatory health insurance contributions and OOP [Out Of Pocket] payments by patients. As the government is responsible for health care services, it subsidizes a substantial portion of health care funding.15"NHI [National Health Insurance], which provides universal coverage, is predominantly funded through contributions by employees, employers and the self-employed (including contributions by the state as an employer of civil servants). About 36% of funding is private, mainly in the form of direct payments and cost sharing…
Health Care System Expenditure In South Korea
"South Korea has a relatively low, but rapidly growing, level of health expenditure compared to other OECD [Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development] countries (Ko, 2008).16 Total health care expenditure has risen steadily from about 4.4% in 1990 to 6.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007. Table 3.1 shows that the amount spent on health care has risen in both absolute and relative terms, with total health expenditure growing rapidly. This growth was more pronounced in public health expenditure, which steadily increased its share of total health expenditure. Despite this increase, public sources of spending as a proportion of…
Health Expenditure In Spain
"Health expenditure in Spain followed the international upward trend until 2009. Since then, the trend has reversed, both in terms of expenditure per capita and as a share of GDP (Table 3.1). Indeed, between 2009 and 2015, government expenditure on health decreased by 0.9 points of the GDP, equivalent to a reduction of 5.3% – €68 870 million in 2009 to €65 199 million in 2015 – although an increasing trend has been seen from 2015. Most of the 2015 public expenditure went to the statutory SNS run by ACs (92.4%), whereas MFs (for civil servants and, accident and occupational…
