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It’s the same game every year – just before the announcement, journalists try to figure out how premiums will move over the next year. In the past, CEOs of insurance companies, directors of health, or people from associations were repeatedly drawn to statements because they generally thanked people with a neat headline.
Berset doesn’t like insurers taking him to the parade
Last year, Federal Councilor Alain Berset took his hat off. He no longer wanted to see the game and pointed out that it was forbidden to communicate the bonuses before the approval of the Federal Council. After two insurers announced the drop in premiums for 2020, Berset told the “Tamedia newspapers”: “That does not work at all, the statements of health insurers are legally at the limit and are politically inadmissible.” Early communication leads to a distortion of competition. “If the 51 registries did that, it would be a disaster. There are rules to protect policyholders and for fair competition, ”Berset said.
Federal Councilor Alain Berset wants to preserve information sovereignty. On Tuesday he reported together with the director of the Federal Office of Public Health, Pascal Strupler.
© Anthony Anex / KEYSTONE
To draw attention to the binding nature of the rules, Berset invited the directors of insurance companies a year ago. In addition, the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) sent a circular last May: According to the Health Insurance Supervision Act (KVAG), insurers are prohibited from “disclosing information to third parties about future premiums.” This includes statements to the media, brokers, and insured persons. Health insurance companies would have to “take appropriate steps to prevent information about 2021 premiums from being leaked.” According to the law, an offense can be punished with a fine of up to 100,000 francs.
High price for a headline
This September, CEOs largely obeyed the rules. But not the director of Santésuisse, Verena Nold: she could not resist the statements about premium development, and only one day before the official announcement of the Federal Council. She told “Blick”: “Basic insurance premiums will only go up moderately in 2021. On average, across all premium registries, models and regions, less than one percent.” That turned out to be true on Tuesday, one day The “Blick” generated the headline Monday: “Santésuisse boss calms down over health insurance costs:” Premiums rise less than 1 percent. “
The office is not very satisfied with these statements: “The BAG is concerned about the secrecy of health insurers until the premium approval process is completed, to avoid misinformation and distortions of competition and to be able to guarantee a process without interruptions. “. There is a “strong focus” on enforcing the rule, a spokesperson told CH Media. Santésuisse’s breakthrough even surprised his own association members: the Federal Council had explained the rules to everyone at the round table.
The BAG calls the fact that Nold himself communicated just the day before the official bonus round as “disappointing.” And it could have consequences: “The BAG is currently examining Santésuisse’s approach from a legal point of view and will take appropriate action based on the findings.”
Are associations above the law?
Santésuisse takes the situation in stride. “I still haven’t heard from BAG,” says Chief Verena Nold. “A sanction would surprise me. Because we announce the evolution of costs every year. This year we just waited a little longer for Corona. “In addition, Santésuisse legally verified whether the association was authorized to provide information on premium development.” Legally we are on the safe side. We are not insurers and therefore we are not subject to the Law of Health Insurance Supervision “.
In fact, it says in the circular that insurers cannot pass on premium information in advance. But it also says that the information should not be disclosed to third parties to prevent it from being made public. So where does the health insurance association get the information from? Nold: “We do not know the premiums of our insurers, it is an estimate of our experts.”
With the information, he wanted to prevent the population from feeling uneasy about a possible increase in premiums. Since the beginning of the year, there has been speculation about massive premium increases, says Nold. However, she fueled this herself in May when she warned of a potential premium increase in 2021: Costs had risen five percent in the first quarter. “We wanted to give the go-ahead,” Nold says today. She had already mentioned it at the round table with Berset in May. At the time, she also recommended that the BAG communicate more actively and publish cost estimates.
