Citizens refer to the indirect counter-proposal
Published: Sunday, Jun 9th 2024, 15:00
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Following the rejection of the SP's premium relief initiative, the conservative parties have referred to the parliamentary counter-proposal that will come into force. They expect this to curb healthcare costs and thus the premium burden. The SP and the SGB regretted the result.
The SP premium relief initiative would have caused additional costs of up to CHF 11.7 billion per year, the SVP announced on Sunday. To achieve this, value added tax would have had to be increased by a further 2 to 3 percentage points. This would have amounted to CHF 1,200 per household.
The population has seen through the hidden redistribution at the expense of the middle classes. Subsidies for health insurance premiums are not expedient. The indirect counter-proposal that is now coming into force obliges many cantons to increase premium reductions.
"Success for SMEs"
FDP National Councillor Regine Suter (ZH) said that the initiative had addressed a major concern of the population, but had provided the wrong recipe. With consequences running into billions, it had merely combated the symptoms. Now the counter-proposal could come into force.
Sauter was pleased with the clarity of the result. She is a member of the National Council Committee for Social Security and Health (SGK-N). The FDP called it a success for the middle class.
Bernese GLP National Councillor Melanie Mettler explained that health insurance premiums were becoming an increasing burden for many households. Her party wants to tackle the undesirable development of healthcare costs at the root instead of fighting the symptoms.
"We must now ensure that we take the measures that have long been known and can be implemented in concrete terms to reduce duplication and false incentives in healthcare and thus stop the rise in premiums," she said as a member of the SGK.
SP launches initiative for public purse
The SP was disappointed. The exploding health insurance premiums would continue to place a heavy burden on the population and remain their main concern, the party wrote. It acknowledged that the initiative was not convincing, especially in German-speaking Switzerland. After all, the counter-proposal obliges the cantons to increase premium reductions.
As a consequence of the defeat, the SP announced an initiative for a public health insurance fund. This is to be launched at the beginning of 2025. "The expensive and inefficient pseudo-competition between private health insurance companies, which is partly responsible for the explosion in premiums, must be stopped now," said National Councillor and Co-President of the SP parliamentary group Samira Marti (BL).
The Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB) called for the rapid implementation of the counter-proposal. In all cantons that accepted the initiative, the SGB will campaign for premiums to be capped at ten percent.
The initiative would have allowed a simple easing of the premium burden. Normal and low earners would have less to live on today than in 2016 after deduction of compulsory contributions.
For the trade union Unia, it was clear that wages must now rise. Interpharma, the association of research-based pharmaceutical companies, called for a holistic approach to healthcare. The pharmaceutical industry is contributing to this by accepting annual savings of CHF 1.5 billion as part of price reviews, for example.
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