How the Swiss Reformed Healthcare

Writing From Geneva - In 1994, Switzerland resolved a quandary that had haunted it for nearly a century: It guaranteed universal health insurance coverage and thus enabled all its residents to benefit from high-quality medical care. The Swiss reforms featured many provisions now being considered in the United States, including a mandate on individuals to purchase health insurance, the elimination of preexisting-condition restrictions and a ban on charging higher premiums based on age or gender.

Like the U.S., Switzerland is a country that values individual responsibility and holds a deep-rooted distrust in federal government interference in health issues, which traditionally have been handled by state -- or canton -- government. Switzerland in 1994 had a largely private financing system for healthcare, with competition among a large number of for-profit and nonprofit health insurers.

Many employers offered health insurance as a fringe benefit, although some were dropping coverage because of rising costs, while a growing minority of the population had no health insurance at all, as they were unable to afford rising premiums. Still, the majority of people had coverage and were generally satisfied with it. And Switzerland was second only to the United States in terms of the proportion of its GDP devoted to healthcare.