Switzerland Compulsory Health Insurance (LAMal)

Switzerland's system of compulsory individual health insurance, established by the Federal Health Insurance Law, known by its French initials LAMal and German initials KVG, which the Federal Council proposed in 1991 with the stated aims of strengthening solidarity through universal coverage and income-based subsidies, containing rising health costs, and expanding the guaranteed benefits basket. The Swiss Parliament passed the law in March 1994, voters approved it in a public referendum that August, and it entered into force on January 1, 1996, requiring every Swiss resident to purchase basic health insurance from a private insurer, with insurers mandated to accept any applicant regardless of health status and premiums set on a community-rated basis within each canton. The law achieved close to universal coverage and remains, since 1996, the most important piece of legislation governing Switzerland's health care system, though it has drawn continued criticism for failing to control the growth of health spending.