On March 19, 2021, the Federal Council decided that psychological psychotherapists will be able to work independently in the future and bill the compulsory health insurance (OKP).
Köhler, Stüdeli & Partner has thus successfully completed the mandate after almost six years.
The current delegation model, in which psychotherapists work under medical supervision, will be replaced.
The psychologists’ associations have been campaigning for decades for this model to be changed, as it no longer met the requirements for low-threshold access to qualified psychotherapy in psychological counseling.
The psychologists’ associations are delighted with the Federal Council’s decision.
In 2015, the psychologists’ associations FSP, ASP and SPAP gave Köhler, Stüdeli and Partners the mandate to create a new regulation to replace the delegation model.
At the first presentation, we recommended reactivating the solution interrupted in 2013 at ordinance level.
Köhler, Stüdeli & Partner developed and implemented a multi-stage process proposal, which has now led to success after six years.
The focus of the policy advice was on checking facts and developing the most objective basis possible, personal discussions with representatives of the FDHA and FOPH, parliamentary initiatives by members of the Council of various parties and media work.
The psychologists’ associations were able to ensure that concerns were broadly supported during the consultation process for the draft ordinances.
The only opposition came from health insurers and psychiatrists’ associations.
Lobbying by the psychologists’ associations was more effective.
The proposals submitted during the consultation process were comprehensively incorporated into the draft ordinance, which has now been approved by the Federal Council.
The implementation proposals of the psychologists’ associations were crowned with success because they focused on the needs of patients for low-threshold access to qualified psychotherapy and set aside particular interests. https://www.nzz.ch/meinung/es-ist-hoechste-zeit-fuer-einen-leichteren-zugang-zu-psychotherapien-ld.1607453