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Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The federal Public Health Office Tuesday 26 May announced that it is taking the unusual step of approving increases in 2010 health insurance premiums by amounts that will vary widely from one canton to another – up to 20 percent in Bern. Vaud, Geneva and Zurich are likely to be at the lower end of the scale, with increases of 10-15 percent mentioned, because their health insurers’ reserves are higher than in many other cantons. The announcement was made as insurers and cantons left a roundtable discussion with the federal government.

The exact amounts will not be known before September, with insurance companies and cantons likely to fight over the increases during coming weeks. Insurance companies warned early in 2009 that their reserves were falling, in some cases to levels close to the legal limit required by the federal government.

Le Temps reports that politicians in Vaud and Geneva argue that their reserves are 36 and 44 percent respectively, well above the required 11.5 percent, so there is little justification for large hikes.

Related (Fre): TSR