Dispute about the assumption of costs
Again and again there are demands on the part of the health insurance companies that the costs of issuing a doctor's certificate should be borne by the insured person. But the Federal Council has now put a stop to these demands and decided that the insured can continue to trust that the costs for such certificates will be covered in future.
Exactly how high these costs are cannot be stated, and the health insurance companies do not know any specific amounts. The reason: If such a certificate is issued, it is done during the consultation with the doctor. This does not show the costs for the issuance of the certificate separately, but includes these in his total costs.
Nobody is willing to pay the costs. Workers argue that it is mandatory for them to provide such a certificate. They would not have any of this themselves and would therefore not want to bear any costs. Employers, on the other hand, have admitted in surveys that they are also unwilling to bear the costs of medical certificates.
After all, these relate to the employee's incapacity for work and the company is already more burdened by the employee's absence. Only the health insurances remain, which have now been asked by the Federal Council to continue to bear the costs for these certificates.
Medical certificate remains mandatory
Despite all the discussions about the cost of medical certificates, it was reiterated that they remain mandatory. This means that an employee will not be able to report an illness simply by calling the employer in the future. He needs confirmation from the doctor. The health insurance must therefore pay for the costs.
The Federal Council also saw the risk that employees would no longer go to the doctor if they were forced to assume the costs. This, in turn, could make them feel worse or infect other workers. This must be prevented, so the employees cannot be expected to bear additional costs.
Parliament had instructed the Federal Council to review the costs of medical certificates. But as mentioned earlier, that was not possible to find out. This can only be determined if the doctors show all individual items separately when issuing the certificates. In view of the increased administrative effort involved, doctors are not required to undertake such an effort.
Conclusion: health insurance companies continue to bear the costs for the doctor's certificate
With the decision of the Federal Council, the issue has finally been resolved: The costs for issuing a doctor's certificate, as required by employers for employees who report sick, must continue to be borne by the mandatory health insurance companies. It is not possible to pass the costs on to the employee, and additional insurance may not be charged or requested separately.
The costs are not to be broken down separately as they are not specifically reported by the doctor. Rather, they are included in the general treatment costs that are charged for a normal consultation.
