Healthcare costs rose to 91.5 billion francs in 2022
In 2022, healthcare costs increased by 2.5% compared to the previous year.
This increase is less pronounced than in the last five years (+3.2%). These are some of the latest results from the "Healthcare costs and financing" statistics published by the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).
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 decreased slightly compared to 2021 from 12.0% 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 institutions (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 prevention expenditure as well as other providers of outpatient and home services (+6.3%) and the retail trade (+6.1%).
Costs according to performance
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) amounted to CHF 14.6 billion, which corresponds to an increase of CHF 5.2% compared to 2021. The increase in administrative costs (+4.8%) should also be mentioned, while prevention expenditure registered a decrease of 9%. The latter is mainly due to lower expenditure on the purchase of health 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 with 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 by 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, people aged 61 and over accounted for 52% of healthcare costs. 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 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 financing. The share of private households amounted to CHF 526 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 138 francs 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.
Source: BfS
