Reply #9: Switzerland doesn't. Only 99.5% insured. Subsidies for poor; individuals purchase insurance.

[lindisfarne]

http://healthcare-economist.com/2008/04/23/health-care-around-the-world-switzerland/
I have already written about Switzerland in previous posts (see Swiss Healthcare Sytem: Part I, and Part II). Still of all the countries with universal health care, Switzerland’s is the most market-oriented and merits discussion. Switzerland’s health care spending as a percentage of GDP is second only behind the U.S. (11.6% of GDP for Switzerland, 15.3% for the U.S. according to Frontline), yet the government pays for very little of this funding. The Swiss system is similar to the “managed competition” health care plan proposed by the Clintons in the early 1990s.

Percent Insured. 99.5%. Does this mean a mandated system system would lead to universal coverage in the U.S? This is unlikely. In Switzerland, a mandate for auto insurance has nearly 100% compliance, but in the U.S. the auto insurance mandate’s compliance rate is only around 83%.

Funding. Insurance is purchased by individuals. Individuals generally must pay the full cost of premiums, but the government helps to finance insurance purchases for the poor. “These subsidies are designed to prevent any individual from having to pay more than 10 percent of income on insurance,” and one third of Swiss citizens receive this type of subsidy. Thus, the Swiss government only pays for 24.9% of health care costs (compared with 44.7% in the U.S.).