A horrifying image shows the injuries of a hiker who walked 10 miles with a trekking pole through his body instead of paying for a helicopter evacuation.
Yeah it’s not great. Transport costs for emergencies are often only covered 50% in Switzerland. We do have the second most costly system after the US, and it’s for the same reason imho, private insurers. There are some more guardrails here than in the US, so it’s not completely horrible, but there are lots of better systems around Europe.
Regarding helicopter rescue specifically, that’s kind of a funny case. In Switzerland the first helicopter rescue organization was founded as a non-profit foundation called Rega, and it continues to operate that way.
For patrons the Rega eats the cost of a rescue that no insurance covers. If you are not a patron and get rescued then the cost of the rescue that isn’t covered falls to you. So in effect a Rega patronage also acts as a sort of gap-insurance.
Around 40% of the population are registered patrons of the Rega foundation. The cost for that is what benjirenji was actually referring to.
Yeah it’s not great. Transport costs for emergencies are often only covered 50% in Switzerland. We do have the second most costly system after the US, and it’s for the same reason imho, private insurers. There are some more guardrails here than in the US, so it’s not completely horrible, but there are lots of better systems around Europe.
Regarding helicopter rescue specifically, that’s kind of a funny case. In Switzerland the first helicopter rescue organization was founded as a non-profit foundation called Rega, and it continues to operate that way.
For patrons the Rega eats the cost of a rescue that no insurance covers. If you are not a patron and get rescued then the cost of the rescue that isn’t covered falls to you. So in effect a Rega patronage also acts as a sort of gap-insurance.
Around 40% of the population are registered patrons of the Rega foundation. The cost for that is what benjirenji was actually referring to.