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HEALTH

Switzerland to be added to UK quarantine list: Reports

British media is reporting that Switzerland will be added to the UK's mandatory quarantine list at the end of the week.

Published: 25 August 2020 17:17 CEST
Switzerland to be added to UK quarantine list: Reports
British Airways planes in Heathrow. Photo: ADRIAN DENNIS / AFP

The Times reported on Tuesday that the UK government is set to add Switzerland to its list of countries which require a mandatory 14-day quarantine on arrival. 

Over the past fortnight, Switzerland has had 20.7 infections per 100,000 inhabitants – over the UK government threshold of 20. 

Scotland has already added Switzerland to its mandatory quarantine list, with arrivals needing to quarantine from August 22nd onwards. 

According to the Times, the UK will add Switzerland to the list when it meets on the weekend of August 29th. 

At a previous meeting, on August 13th, the UK elected not to add Switzerland to the list. 

The UK's own infection rate per 100,000 people is currently above that of Switzerland – at 22 per 100,000. 

Switzerland's threshold for requiring a mandatory quarantine is however much higher than that in the UK, set at 60 new infections per 100,000. 

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HEALTH INSURANCE

Could glasses and contact lenses soon be covered by Swiss health insurance?

The Swiss health system is ranked among the best in the world, but some essentials, like glasses, aren't automatically covered by health insurance. That could soon change, however

Published: 16 May 2024 15:06 CEST
Could glasses and contact lenses soon be covered by Swiss health insurance?

Green Party Federal Councillor Katharina Prelicz-Huber revealed in an interview with newspaper 20 Minuten this week that the Federal Parliament had tabled a motion to include prescription glasses and contact lenses in Switzerland’s mandatory health insurance scheme. 

Prelicz-Huber stated: “The purpose of compulsory health insurance is to provide the services you need to get or stay healthy,”

The motion forms part of the legislation that will be voted on during the 2024 summer session of the Federal Council. 

Proposed changes 

According to Switzerland’s peak optician body, 4 in 5 Swiss wear glasses or contact lenses at some point. 

It’s no surprise that statistics repository, Statista, projects the Swiss eyewear industry to be worth €1.37 billion by 2028. 

Currently, glasses and contact lenses are covered for up to 180 francs for children until age eighteen, if they are proscribed by a doctor.

Adults can also claim money back for glasses and contact lenses – however, they must be suffering from one of a short list of specific conditions such as keratoconus – where the cornea is distorted – or severe myopia, otherwise known as near-sightedness.

They must also have been specifically prescribed them by a doctor or optometrist. 

Otherwise, supplemental optical insurance must be purchased in Switzerland to ensure you can recoup the cost. 

Under the Green Party proposal, glasses, contact lenses, and other visual aids would be covered, regardless of age. 

Rising premiums prompt opposition 

Not everybody agrees with the proposal. 

The right-wing SVP has already spoken out against it, with Federal Councillor Diana Gutjahr arguing: “If we seriously want to slow down the burdensome and constantly rising health costs for the benefit of the population, we [must] show the political will not to constantly expand the benefits of compulsory health insurance.”

A spokesman for the the health insurance advocacy group Santesuisse, Matthias Müller, echoed Gutjahr, claiming that insurance constitutes “financing for extraordinary events such as illness.”

“If almost everyone benefits from a certain service, it is no longer an insurance benefit.”

A date for the vote has yet to be announced. 

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