Doctors’ chief says Swiss government exceeded its powers over cost cap

Yvonne Gilli, president of the Swiss Medical Association, says the government overstepped its authority by ordering preparations to limit growth in outpatient healthcare costs. She remains open to negotiations, SRF reported.

The government has asked health insurers, hospitals and doctors to agree on a plan to keep annual growth in costs for outpatient medical services to 4%. It says it has received no such plan despite repeated requests since April last year.

The government has now instructed the health department, led by Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, to prepare to intervene if costs exceed the limit and the tariff partners cannot agree on corrective measures. Gilli said in an interview on SRF radio that the government had no parliamentary mandate or legal basis for issuing the order.

Gilli said a rigid cap could put public healthcare at risk. If new services are added to basic health insurance or costly medicines are covered, she said, those costs cannot simply be offset through doctors’ fees. The medical association did not want to share responsibility if patients were denied services elsewhere, she added.

However, Gilli said the government’s letter to the tariff partners offered room for talks. It said corrective measures must not undo improvements to primary care or disadvantage regions where more treatment is shifting from inpatient to outpatient settings. Gilli said this suggested some factors could be taken out of the overall budget calculation, and said she was clearly willing to seek a solution with the government and other tariff partners.