The 2023 Drug Report shows: The costs of basic insurance for medicinal products also increased in 2022. In total, they amounted to CHF 8.5 billion in the outpatient sector, which corresponds to an increase of CHF 360 million (+4.4%) compared to the previous year. One in four premium francs is now spent on medicines.
The analyses also show that new medicines are increasingly expensive. These new therapies are not always better than existing ones, and only four out of 45 new active pharmaceutical ingredients in 2022 are innovative. The public must be able to rely on the fact that no excessive prices are being paid for medicines, especially in the case of pseudo-innovations. New pricing rules and cost-reducing measures such as volume discounts are needed to ensure that genuine innovations can continue to be financed. With the Helsana Drug Report, we are creating transparency in the development of volumes and costs on the medicines market and the use of medicines for cystic fibrosis and hepatitis C.
The Helsana Drug Report is the only one of its kind in Switzerland. The report – compiled in cooperation with the University Hospital Basel (USB) and the European Center of Pharmaceutical Medicine (ECPM) at the University of Basel – provides authentic insights into the supply of medicinal products in Switzerland. We also cast a critical eye on the market for medicinal products, look for anomalies and differences, and identify room for improvement.
The report is in German. The preface and summary are available in English and German.
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