- Health insurance premiums in Appenzell Ausserrhoden will rise by 10.1 percent next year.
- For the population of the neighboring canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, there will be a much smaller surcharge of 6.5 percent in 2024.
- What are the reasons for the different increases in the two Appenzells?
The fact that Innerrhoden got off relatively lightly this year is probably also due to the small size of the canton, writes the health director of Appenzell Innerrhoden when asked by Radio SRF. Experience has shown that the fluctuations are greater in a canton with a low population.
The Health Directorate also makes it clear: As long as costs rise due to demographic developments and medical progress, the same will happen to premiums. Last year an increase of 9.1 percent was announced in Appenzell Innerrhoden, the Swiss average was 6.6 percent.
A few kilometers further, in Appenzell Ausserrhoden’s main town of Herisau, you look a little jealously at your neighbors. After 8.1 percent last year, the premiums for compulsory basic insurance will be an average of 10.1 percent higher this year. This means additional costs of 34 francs per month for an individual.
People from Ausserrhoden go to the doctor more quickly
Measured in terms of premiums, Appenzell Ausserrhoden is still average, says the responsible government councilor Yves Noël Balmer. However, hospital costs are a cost driver in the canton.
“We have a disproportionate number of hospital beds compared to the population. We have many clinics in the canton, and in certain areas there is an oversupply. This also seems to be partly reflected in the costs,” says Balmer.
But there are also more and more hospital stays, both outpatient and inpatient. And these cannot only be explained by the age structure. The neighbors in Appenzell Innerrhoden would show how it could be done, he says.
“The population of Appenzell Innerrhoden has, on a low level, better health literacy than we do,” says Balmer. The people from Ausserrhoden went to the doctor quicker than their neighbors. The numbers proved that.
Health costs must therefore be addressed now, says the Ausserrhoden health director. They should form a focus in the new government program.
A question of mentality?
The fact that health care costs have risen more sharply in Ausserrhoden could also be due to bad luck or coincidence, says Simon Wieser, head of the Winterthur Institute for Health Economics. For example, if some patients in Ausserrhoden had particularly high costs and this was not the case in Innerrhoden.
Wieser also cites mentality as a possible reason for the different health care costs. “We generally see that costs and premiums are significantly lower in eastern Switzerland and central Switzerland, while we have significantly higher costs in western Switzerland and in the cities. That could also be due to the mentality.”