A healthcare system without health: The people sacrifice their choice of doctor, while pharmaceutical companies rake in billions.

Two out of three Swiss people would forgo free choice of hospital, 57 percent free choice of doctor , and half would even allow the benefits package of their basic health insurance to be drastically reduced. This isn't a survey, it's a confession: A nation that pays more every year is voluntarily offering to receive even less in return. The healthcare system no longer cares about your health, but about itself. The patient is merely a commodity who pays, remains silent, and says thank you.

Wax in the hands of the premium administrators

The figures come from the 25th Health Monitor, conducted by GFS Bern among 1046 eligible voters between the end of July and mid-August 2026. The willingness to forgo choosing a hospital increased by 16 percentage points within a year, reaching 65 percent; the willingness to choose a doctor rose from 43 to 57 percent; and the willingness to accept reduced services increased from 36 to 50 percent. Sixty-two percent are in favor of a budget-based health insurance fund with a streamlined benefits package, and 56 percent support automatic cost controls. And because logic is the first casualty in the face of rising premiums, 67 percent favor flat-rate premiums for everyone, while 63 percent support income-based premiums. This isn't a compromise; it's gasping for air.

The Swiss have long since sold their freedom of choice. According to the health insurance association prio.swiss, around 80 percent of those insured are already enrolled in a family doctor, HMO, or telemedicine model with limited choice. The sacrifice has been made. Nevertheless, premiums have risen: by 4,4 percent in 2026 to 393,30 francs per month, and the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) is already forecasting an increase of 4,5 to 5 percent for 2027. Anyone offering further concessions after already making these sacrifices hasn't saved money, but rather allowed themselves to be manipulated.

Whoever orders the survey also receives the reward.

The health monitor was commissioned by Interpharma, the lobby group for the research-based pharmaceutical industry. Its managing director, René Buholzer, promptly interpreted the public's willingness to sacrifice for healthcare as a fitting message: Modern healthcare policy should assess innovations "not only from a cost perspective, but also with regard to the quality of care." In other words: You can choose your doctor, but the price of the new pill is non-negotiable. The fact that more expensive innovations will drive up premiums again isn't mentioned in the press release, but rather in your next health insurance bill.

It also shows where the money ends up. In 2024, basic health insurance spent 9,4 billion Swiss francs on medications, according to the Helsana drug report. A good 30 percent of that went to cancer and immune system drugs, which account for just 2,8 percent of total expenditures. Generic drugs cost 45,5 percent less abroad , as shown in a joint price comparison by santésuisse and – surprisingly – Interpharma itself. Around one billion francs could be saved there, calculated Verena Nold, director of santésuisse – equivalent to three percent in premiums. Instead, savings are being made on your choice of hospital.

Roche recorded a net profit of 13,8 billion Swiss francs in 2025 , Novartis 14 billion dollars, and Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan pocketed 24,9 million Swiss francs . The CEOs of CSS and Helsana each earned just under a million , Helsana with a 25 percent increase, while CSS justified its 17 percent increase with one of the best annual results in the company's history. The planned salary cap of 405,656 Swiss francs would only affect the basic health insurance portion—a cap with a built-in loophole. Premium payers are being squeezed dry so that the balance sheet can shine. We have dissected how the business model behind this works in our article " Treating Symptoms, Preventing Cure ," as well as why no one researches what cannot be patented.

Assembly line in white coats

To be fair, Swiss general practitioners spend a considerable amount of time on consultations compared to their international counterparts, averaging 15 to 17 minutes per visit, according to a BMJ Open analysis of data from 67 countries . The real problem lies higher up. According to an FMH survey from 2025, a hospital physician in acute care will spend 114 minutes a day on patient files and another 35 minutes complying with regulations from authorities and insurers, compared to approximately 211 minutes of direct patient care. Two and a half hours a day are spent on accounting so the system knows what to bill for. Medicine treats diseases, not people , and every new cost-cutting measure introduces a new form that further consumes bedside time. According to a 2018 study by the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG), self-employed specialists already earned a median income of 257,000 Swiss francs, with some specialties exceeding 600,000. In this cut-rate system, the highest earner is the one who bills the most.

Choosing a doctor in exchange for a discount: The vaccination fanatic as a mandatory program

And then there's the question that no survey asked. Without free choice of doctor, your health insurance company decides who treats you, not your trust. Imagine if the assigned doctor happens to be that very same vaccination fanatic who insists you get another booster every time you have a sniffle and labels any doubt as anti-science. Switching doctors? Only at an extra cost. Free choice of doctor isn't a luxury; it's the last vestige of self-determination over your own body. Anyone who sells it off for a few extra francs in premiums doesn't know what they're selling. By the way, there are ways beyond the constraints of the health insurance system ; you just have to be willing to look for them.

Diagnosis: The people as a chronic patient

The people who supposedly flood the doctor's office for every minor ailment are easy scapegoats because they have no lobby. The billions flow elsewhere: to corporations with record profits, to health insurance executives with record salaries, and into a machine that spends two and a half hours a day filling out forms. This healthcare system doesn't care about people's health; it cares about its own internal cycle, and that cycle only works as long as you're sick and paying.

Around 80 percent have already given up their choice of doctor, yet premiums have still risen. The next survey will ask if you'd rather forgo hospitals altogether. If you hand the warden your own chain, don't be surprised if you end up in jail. First ask who profits from your illness – and then stop thanking them!