Health
All people have the right to appropriate healthcare and equal access to healthcare and social services - including people with a migrant background, disability or chronic illnesses. Healthcare must be barrier-free, and cultural and language barriers must be taken into account. The freeze on health insurance benefits must not affect those who are economically unable to pay for their healthcare costs.
Foreign-language patients often have problems finding their way around the healthcare system. However, understanding diagnoses, treatments and medical procedures is important for successful treatment. This is why the VMR, together with the Office of Public Health, provided free intercultural interpreters for medical practices in Liechtenstein for two years. The response was very good: the service was used intensively (2022: 82 assignments, 2023: 142), so the Office of Public Health decided to take over and finance the service on a longer-term basis from 2024 - a great success! However, when funding was temporarily suspended in the middle of the year for budget reasons, the VMR intervened and was able to ensure that the service was resumed in September, hopefully on a long-term basis this time.
The freeze on health insurance benefits has been a thorn in the side of the VMR for years. It must be ensured that no people are affected who are unable to pay the insurance costs due to their vulnerability. There also needs to be a definition of what constitutes emergency treatment that is still provided if benefits are suspended. The VMR is committed to clarifying these issues and introducing regulations.
