Health insurance, bank holidays, subscription trap: These changes you need to know in November

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All Saints’ Day, 1 November 2023, is a legally recognized holiday in the following cantons: Aargau, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Freiburg, Glarus, Jura, Lucerne, Nidwalden, Obwalden, Schwyz, St. Gallen, Ticino, Uri, Valais, Zug.

As of November 1, new rules regarding blood donation will come into force. Blood can then be donated regardless of sexual orientation. Additionally, gay men no longer need to wait a year to donate blood if they have had sexual intercourse with other men.

Disney is in the red in the streaming department. Production costs exceed subscription revenue. To counter this, Disney is introducing new subscription models. The standard subscription remains in effect and continues to cost CHF 12.90 per month. There will also be a standard subscription without ads and download functionality for 7.90 francs. There is also a premium model for 17.90 francs. Advantage: More simultaneous streams and better video and audio quality.

Be careful, subscription trap! Anyone who does not actively choose one of the two cheaper models by November 1 will automatically be upgraded to a premium user and will then pay 5 francs more per month.

Until now, anyone who needed to review official federal government documents generally had to pay a fee. The fee will no longer be valid starting November 1, 2023. This envisages amendments to the Federal Law on the Principles of Promotion of the Administration (BGÖ) and the relevant regulation (VBGÖ).

A request for access will only incur a fee if it “requires a particularly complex procedure by the authorities”, the Federal Council said in a statement. More than eight working hours is considered special effort. If the processing time exceeds eight hours, 100 CHF must be paid for each additional hour.

The Federal Council states that in principle anyone can request access to official documents and does not even have to prove a special interest in doing so.

There will be no federal vote on November 26, 2023. The Federal Council had already decided on this in May. The statement said that due to the national and Council of States elections on October 22, the Federal Council “in practice does not use the voting date at the end of November of the election year.” There will not be another federal referendum until March 3, 2024. The statement added that the Federal Council “will decide which proposals will be voted on at a later date.”

In 2024, health insurance premiums will increase significantly again in Switzerland; by an average of 8.7 percent. The federal government is justifying its premium hammer with health care costs rising much more than expected. “More doctor visits, more outpatient hospital services, increasingly expensive medications have led to these higher costs,” he says in a statement.

These days, new policies of health insurance companies are coming. If the new premium seems too high, you can change your insurer or adjust the model with the same insurer by November 30, 2023. BAG provides, among other things, a premium calculator and premium overview so policyholders can make comparisons. The authority also provides sample letters for termination. In the meantime, BAG recommends that notice of termination be sent by November 15. (sweat)

Source :Blick