Former SP federal councilor Ruth Dreifuss has expressed her disappointment with the development of the Federal Health Insurance Act (KVG). “It has been worked on for thirty years,” she told the French-language Swiss newspaper “Le Matin Dimanche.”
The federal law she introduced as Secretary of the Interior in 1994 metaphorically described her as an airplane. “There is no pilot on the plane. Or rather, there are too many, and everyone is moving in a different direction,” she said in an interview published Sunday. The plane will not crash. But the passengers would be shocked.
It was clear from the start that the law needed adjustments, Dreifuss said. But there have never been any revisions.
The former federal councilor referred to another broken promise: the financial contributions should be based on the development of health care costs and the costs should be shared between the federal government and the cantons. “The federal government is keeping its promise, but many cantons have not kept it,” said Dreifuss.
This was also shown in a recent evaluation. 21 cantons could have made more money available to policyholders in 2022, Tamedia wrote last Tuesday based on an analysis by the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions.
Despite the criticism, Dreifuss was optimistic. According to her, the KVG crisis could also be an opportunity. After all, the system was introduced in 1994, also at a time of great difficulty.
“I’m certainly not desperate: some of the proposals being made now make perfect sense,” she said. According to her, a public health insurance fund, such as the one the SP strives for, can provide better care for people and more solidarity – if everyone is involved.
On the other hand, the Social Democrat rejected SVP politician Natalie Rickli’s remark to abolish compulsory insurance. It is, among other things, an attack on the principle of solidarity. “You have to remember that before the KVG there was no solidarity between the sick and the healthy, or between the young and the old,” she said. (sda)
source: watson
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