Swiss Health System Overview
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Health System Outcomes
Health System Coverage
Health System Costs for Consumers
Health System Expenditures
Swiss COVID-19 National Policy
Annual household out-of-pocket payment in current US$ per capita (2019): $2,445
Source: Global Health Expenditure Database. Health expenditure series. Geneva: World Health Organization. Last accessed July 21, 2022.
Out-of-Pocket Spending as Share of Final Household Consumption (%) (2019): 5.8%
Source: OECD (2021), Health at a Glance 2021: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ae3016b9-en.
Out-Of-Pocket Expenditure As Percentage Of Current Health Expenditure (2019): 25.29%
Source: Global Health Observatory. Out-of-pocket expenditure as percentage of current health expenditure (CHE) (%). Geneva: World Health Organization. Last accessed August 30, 2022.
Out-Of-Pocket Expenditure Per Capita In US$ (2019): $2,445
Source: Global Health Observatory. Out-of-pocket expenditure (OOP) per capita in US$. Geneva: World Health Organization. Last accessed August 30, 2022.
“Financial flows are fragmented and split between different government levels and different social insurance schemes. Resources are collected mostly through taxes (32.4% of THE [Total Health Expenditure] in 2012) and MHI [Mandatory Health Insurance] premiums (30.0% of THE) but a considerable part of tax resources are subsequently allocated to the different social insurance schemes, in particular as subsidies to lower and lower-middle income households for the purchase of MHI. As a result of this reallocation, MHI companies are the most important purchasers and payers in the system, mostly negotiating collective contracts with providers, and financing 35.8% of THE. This is followed by OOP [Out Of Pocket] payments (26.0% of THE) and government spending (mostly from cantons) (20.3% of THE). In international comparison, the share of public spending is relatively low, while the share of OOP payments is exceptionally high.
“MHI premiums are community-rated, i.e. they are the same for every person enrolled with a particular company within a region, independent of gender or health status. Different premiums apply to three different age classes: (1) from 0 to less than 19 years; (2) from 19 to less than 26 years; (3) 26 years and above. In 2012, 29% of the Swiss population had to pay only a reduced premium or no premium at all. In addition, there are about 108 000 people (1.3% of the population) who default on paying their premiums. MHI premiums are collected by MHI companies and are subsequently reallocated between MHI companies based on an increasingly refined risk-equalization mechanism. Complementary and supplementary VHI plays a rather small and declining role, financing about 7.2% of THE in 2012.”
Source: De Pietro C, Camenzind P, Sturny I, Crivelli L, Edwards-Garavoglia S, Spranger A, Wittenbecher F, Quentin W. Switzerland: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2015; 17(4):1–288.
“Relatively strong economic growth in Switzerland, in particular since 2004 (except in 2009, see Table 3.1) has meant that the proportion of GDP spent on health increased by “only” 2.0 percentage points between 1995 and 2013. During the same period, per capita spending on health in US$ at PPP more than doubled from US$ PPP 2566 in 1995 to US$ PPP 6186 in 2013.
“If per capita spending on health in US$ PPP is compared across countries (see Fig. 3.3), Switzerland (US$ PPP 6186) spends almost twice as much as the average in the EU (US$ 3378), and is topped only by Luxembourg (US$ 6518) and Norway (US$ 6307). Monaco follows with a similar amount of US$ 6122. In those countries that spend a similar share of GDP on health as Switzerland, per capita expenditures in US$ PPP is lower due to a lower GDP per capita.”
Source: De Pietro C, Camenzind P, Sturny I, Crivelli L, Edwards-Garavoglia S, Spranger A, Wittenbecher F, Quentin W. Switzerland: Health system review. Health Systems in Transition, 2015; 17(4):1–288.
World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems in the US and sixteen other nations.
Page last updated August 30, 2022 by Doug McVay, Editor.
