Health insurance vote 2024: what’s it all about?
On 9 June 2024, Switzerland will vote on the cost-brake and the premium relief initiatives. We explain the health insurance vote.
23.05.2024
iStock/Scharvik
1. What will the Swiss population vote on this 9 June 2024?
At the vote on 9 June 2024, two proposals for reducing health insurance premiums will be presented to the people: the cost-brake initiative and the premium relief initiative.
Both initiatives are a response to rising health insurance premiums. In recent times, health insurance premiums have risen by an average of 8.7%.
2. What is the cost-brake initiative about?
In the last ten years, salaries have risen by around 6% – meanwhile costs for compulsory health insurance have gone up by around 31% (source: Federal Administration). The cost brake initiative aims to link the costs of basic insurance to salaries and economic growth in the future.
Pursuant to the transitional provisions, the Initiative Committee calls for the following: if healthcare costs rise by 20% more than salaries per year, the federal government and the cantons must decide on cost-reducing measures. The specific implementation of the initiative would have to be legally defined by Parliament.
The Federal Council and Parliament are against the cost-brake initiative. Why? Because it does not take into account the reasons behind increasing costs. These include medical advances and the aging population. The Federal Council and Parliament have therefore drawn up an indirect counterproposal.
The basic idea behind the counterproposal is to specify cost and quality targets for basic health insurance. The Federal Council would have to determine the maximum increase in costs every four years with the actors in the healthcare system (e.g. doctors, hospitals). If costs rise more sharply, the Federal Council and the cantons would have to examine measures to correct this.
3. What would be the consequences of adopting the cost-brake initiative?
The initiative does not state how costs could be reduced, or how increases in premiums could be slowed down. “The dispute over cost containment would continue as before,” says Comparis health expert Felix Schneuwly.
According to him, the required measures would not be possible without longer waiting periods and rationing of insured medical benefits.
The counterproposal comes into force if the people reject the cost-brake initiative and no referendum is held.
According to Felix Schneuwly, the counterproposal does not solve the problem of rising costs. Instead, it would be important to evaluate the reforms adopted and change policy related to the reimbursement of insured medical benefits, moving away from amounts and towards the success of treatment.
4. What does the premium relief initiative want?
The initiative calls for the following: insured persons should not have to spend more than 10% of their disposable income on basic health insurance premiums. Any additional costs would have to be borne by the national government and the cantons in the form of premium reductions. In this scenario, the federal government would cover at least two thirds of the discount.
If the Federal Council and Parliament reject the initiative. This would lead to additional expenditure in the billions and would not involve any incentive to reduce healthcare costs. The Federal Council and Parliament have therefore drawn up an indirect counterproposal.
In the counterproposal, the cantons are obliged to make a minimum contribution to financing the premium reduction. The reasoning behind this: they are responsible for healthcare, and therefore have a great influence on costs. The cantons must also determine how much of the disposable income of insured persons residing in the canton should be spent on health insurance.
5. What would be the consequences of adopting the premium relief initiative?
The federal government would have to pay the cantons much more for premium reductions. This would mostly affect the cantons of Basel-Stadt and Geneva, because their health insurance premiums are the highest in Switzerland.
The counterproposal comes into force if the people reject the premium relief initiative and no referendum is held.
With the counterproposal, more money would be available for premium reductions than today, but less than with the initiative. The volume of premium reductions increases with costs and premiums, including equal participation by the federal government and the cantons.
Health insurance premiums compared
All basic insurance policies offer the same cover, irrespective of insurer. The cost of premiums differs, however. It’s worth comparing.
This article was first published on 23.05.2024
