Facts
On December 12, 1972, the Government Council of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft approved the "Collective Agreement Physicians/Health Insurance Funds" and the associated "Tariff Agreement Physicians/Health Insurance Funds" concluded between the Physicians' Association of Basel-Landschaft and the Association of Basel-Landschaft Health Insurance Funds. This collective agreement contained an indexation clause, according to which the tariff point value is automatically adjusted by 5 cents when changes in the national consumer price index amount to 7.33 index points.
After the entry into force of the new Health Insurance Act (KVG) on January 1, 1996, the Physicians' Association demanded an increase in the tariff point value from 1.80 Swiss francs to 1.95 Swiss francs based on the indexation clause. Since the Health Insurance Funds Association rejected this, the Physicians' Association filed a lawsuit with the cantonal arbitration tribunal.
The arbitration tribunal took up the lawsuit and dismissed it. The Physicians' Association then filed an administrative court appeal with the Federal Insurance Court.
Considerations
The Federal Insurance Court concluded that disputes over the application of a collective agreement indexation clause, which determines the level of the tariff point value, do not fall within the jurisdiction of the arbitration tribunals under Art. 89 KVG. Rather, such tariff adjustments must be approved by the competent authority (Cantonal Government and Federal Council).
The court justified this by stating that the KVG provides for increased control of tariff…