Swiss hospitals are under scrutiny for exploiting a legal loophole to inflate medical product prices, burdening health insurers and premium payers.

A law meant to reduce costs allowed hospitals to retain up to 49% of discounts on medical products, provided they joined a specific agreement.

However, some hospitals reportedly charged insurers exorbitant prices, with items like a balloon implant priced at CHF 1,500 instead of CHF 60. Investigations reveal that hospitals used undisclosed list prices, often 20 times higher than actual costs, to justify these charges.

Major health insurers have launched probes, and some have rejected suspicious invoices.

The controversy has led to the cancellation of the agreement, with new regulations under review in Parliament.