The Thurgau Enacts a Blacklist into Law
Published: Wednesday, Aug 16th 2023, 10:00
Updated At: Friday, Oct 13th 2023, 14:12
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The Thurgau Grand Council has officially incorporated a black list of delinquent health insurance premium payers into the cantonal health insurance law with a final vote on Wednesday. This is seen as a success story in Thurgau, but other cantons have chosen not to follow this path. The list includes people who have not paid their premiums and cost contributions for compulsory basic insurance even after reminders and enforcement. Those affected are sanctioned with a suspension of benefits, limiting their medical treatment to emergency measures. The majority of the Thurgau Parliament saw this as an effective tool to reduce premium arrears, which the public sector must bear. The opposition of the left half of the Council remained unsuccessful. One of the criticisms was that this approach does not differentiate between those unable to pay and those unwilling to pay. The government argued that a case management system could help communities in Thurgau to support those on the black list before loss certificates were issued. By the end of 2021, the number of delinquent premium payers had decreased from 8786 to 4688. The Swiss Parliament confirmed in 2021 the right to maintain such lists, which are also used in the cantons of Zug, Lucerne and Aargau. In Graubünden, Schaffhausen, Solothurn and St. Gallen, however, the instrument has been abolished. In St. Gallen, the authorities concluded that the black list did not improve the situation. Thurgau was the only canton to maintain a black list for minors, but has since stopped doing so in 2021.nnnnnnnnnn
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