Outcome of health insurance initiatives uncertain according to SRG survey
Published: Friday, May 3rd 2024, 06:10
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According to the first SRG poll for the vote on June 9, the premium relief and cost brake initiatives are popular with voters. The energy decree would also have been clearly accepted around seven weeks before the vote.
In contrast, the Stop Compulsory Vaccination Initiative received little support in the survey. In the SRG trend survey, only 27% said "yes" to the popular initiative "For freedom and physical integrity (stop compulsory vaccination)". According to the survey published on Wednesday, the state of opinion formation is very advanced.
Of the two healthcare initiatives, the Social Democrats' initiative to reduce the burden on premiums achieved the highest level of approval: 56% of participants in the SRG survey would have voted in favor of it in mid-April.
Outcome of premium relief uncertain
However, the opinion research institute gfs.bern, which conducted the survey on behalf of SRG, stated that a high level of approval is normal for this type of proposal at the start of the campaign. However, the result of the vote is still uncertain at the moment.
The "Maximum 10 percent of income for health insurance premiums (premium relief initiative)" demands that people in Switzerland should have to spend a maximum of ten percent of their disposable income on health insurance premiums.
According to the survey, the initiative received the most support from people with lower incomes. Among people with an income of less than CHF 3,000 per month, 76% were definitely or somewhat in favor of the initiative, while only 38% of people with an income of over CHF 11,000 were in favor.
There were also major differences between the language regions. In the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, the initiative achieved a "yes" vote of 73% and in the French-speaking part of Switzerland 71%. In German-speaking Switzerland, significantly fewer people were in favor of the initiative (50%).
Even tighter on cost brakes
The centrist cost brake initiative achieved a 52% "yes" rating in the survey. According to the opinion research institute, however, the initiative is likely to be rejected if support wanes to the usual extent during the referendum campaign.
The initiative "For lower premiums - cost brake in the healthcare system (cost brake initiative)" should take effect as soon as healthcare costs rise faster than wages. The authorities and stakeholders in the healthcare system would then have to take measures to stabilize costs.
Yes to blanket waiver likely
In contrast, the trend for the so-called energy jacket decree, the Electricity Supply Act, is considered to be clearer: In the survey, 75 percent were in favor. Given this starting position, a yes vote is the most likely scenario. A vote will be held on the energy decree passed by parliament after the Fondation Franz Weber (FFW) submitted a referendum.
The results of the first wave of the SRG survey are thus in line with the results of the first survey conducted by "20 Minuten" and Tamedia, which was published last week. In that survey, 60 percent were in favor of the premium relief initiative, 54 percent in favor of the cost brake initiative and 65 percent in favor of the energy tax waiver. According to the Tamedia survey, the Stop Compulsory Vaccination Initiative was also clearly rejected with only 29% in favor.
For the trend survey, 11,040 voters were interviewed by the research institute gfs.bern between April 12 and 25.
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