Legal and ethical questions related to the introduction of the new SwissDRG tariff structure in Switzerland have only been examined to a limited extent to date, and there is almost a complete lack of legal and ethical analyses on the subject. The book addresses the changes in the Swiss hospital landscape since 1994 in the first part, taking into account the most recent revision of health insurance law in 2007, including the introduction of the new flat-rate tariff system SwissDRG for acute inpatient hospital services in Switzerland. Since SwissDRG, as an important component of the new hospital financing, can have an impact on particularly vulnerable patient groups, the second part examines the effects of SwissDRG on these patient groups and highlights the opportunities and risks of the new tariff system as well as significant protective regulations.