Healthcare costs rose to CHF 91.5 billion in 2022

In 2022, healthcare costs rose by CHF 2.2 billion to CHF 91.5 billion compared to the previous year. The share of healthcare costs in gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices fell slightly from 12.0% in 2021 to 11.7% in 2022.

Costs by service provider
The three most important service providers are hospitals (CHF 32.6 billion for healthcare services; +2.6%), socio-medical facilities (CHF 14.5 billion; +3%) and doctors' surgeries (CHF 13.7 billion; +3.2%). Other service providers with significant changes were the state (-11.3%) as a result of lower expenditure on prevention, other providers of outpatient and home services (+6.3%) and the retail trade (+6.1%).

Costs by service
In terms of services provided, the figures for 2022 show that inpatient curative treatment (CHF 19.6 billion; +2.2% compared to the previous year), outpatient curative treatment (CHF 19.2 billion; +2.5%) and long-term care and assistance (CHF 18.4 billion; +3.4%) together generated around 63% of total costs. The cost of healthcare goods (medicines, consumables, therapeutic appliances) totalled CHF 14.6 billion, which corresponds to an increase of 5.2% compared to 2021. The increase in administrative costs (+4.8%) should also be mentioned, while prevention expenditure fell by 9%. The latter is mainly due to lower expenditure on the purchase of healthcare goods and vaccines by the cantons in 2022.

Costs by financing regime
Compulsory health insurance (CHF 34.5 billion; +3.8% compared to 2021), the state (CHF 20.3 billion; almost unchanged) and households (CHF 19.7 billion; +3.9%) bear the largest share of healthcare costs, accounting for around 80% of the total amount.

The contribution of each financing regime varies depending on the type of benefit covered. The focus on some services and their financing shows that the costs of healthcare goods are mainly borne by compulsory health insurance (57%) and households (27.5%). A good three quarters (78%) of inpatient curative treatments are covered by the state and compulsory health insurance (47% and 31% respectively), while 86% of the costs of outpatient curative treatments are covered by compulsory health insurance and private households (52% and 34% respectively). Long-term care and assistance is covered almost equally by the state and private households (around 30% each) and by compulsory health insurance (17%), while the other social insurances (AHV, IV, UV, MV) cover around 20% of the costs.

Costs by age group and gender
In 2022, 52% of healthcare costs were incurred by people aged 61 and over. With the exception of some age groups (0-10 years and 56-75 years), healthcare costs for women (55% of total costs) were systematically higher than those for men. This is mainly due to the services provided to women of childbearing age or during menopause and to the higher proportion of women, particularly in the older age groups. These figures are relatively stable over time.

Financing of the healthcare system
In 2022, the healthcare system was financed with a total of CHF 92.9 billion. The state covered 32% of this amount, while companies covered 5% and private households 60%. The remaining amount comes from unknown sources of funding. The share of private households totalled 526 francs per person per month. Of this, CHF 264 was accounted for by premiums for compulsory health insurance, CHF 68 by premiums for supplementary insurance and CHF 50 by the cost sharing provided for by health insurance. Households paid CHF 138 themselves. The remaining amount comes from donations from households. In general, the difference between the contributions of the financing regimes and the healthcare costs can be explained by any financing surpluses in the insurance companies (compulsory health insurance and supplementary insurance), with only supplementary insurance registering a surplus in 2022.


Contact:

Stefano Puddu, FSO, Health Care Section
Phone: +41 58 465 71 00
E-mail: stefano.puddu@bfs.admin.ch
FSO Media Office, tel.: +41 58 463 60 13, e-mail: media@bfs.admin.ch

Note: This article was translated from German to English by an online translator.

--- END press release Healthcare costs rose to CHF 91.5 billion in 2022 ---

  Bundesamt für Statistik BFS (company entry)

  Die Gesundheitskosten stiegen 2022 auf 91,5 Milliarden Franken (news article in german on swiss-press.com)