Social reform for the public: Thousands of retirees are deprived of additional benefits

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Something like this doesn’t happen every day in Switzerland: Citizens invite people to a media conference in Bern, raising the possibility of expanding the welfare state.

“Action is needed when it comes to low pensions,” GLP National Assembly Member Melanie Mettler (46, BE) emphasized on this occasion. In a motion he introduced, he promised that Parliament would increase AHV pensions for needy retirees by twice what was planned if the 13th AHV pension initiative was passed.

During his appearance this week, Mettler was accompanied by Central Councilor Brigitte Häberli-Koller (65, TG), FDP National Councilor Olivier Feller (49, VD) and SVP parliamentary group leader Thomas Aeschi (45, ZG). All together they want to block the union initiative, which has a 61 percent approval rate, according to SRG research.

Courageous No Committee

The timing of this look is pretty bold. The effects of the social reform decided by citizens in 2019 are now becoming evident: As of January 1, 2024, tens of thousands of retirees will have their supplementary benefits (EL) reduced. In fact, thousands of low-income people have lost this government support completely.

EL is paid to people with an AHV or IV pension if their income is not sufficient to cover minimum living expenses. In 2022, 16.4 percent of all retirees benefited from this right.

Official information on the Swiss-wide consequences of the reform is not yet available. However, upon request from SonntagsBlick, many cantons released their provisional data.

Due to the reform, 18,500 files were re-evaluated in the canton of Bern. Around 2500 there was no change, at 4000 there was a higher requirement. Support for 11,000 EL recipients has been reduced, and since the beginning of the year around 1,000 Bernese residents are no longer entitled to any additional benefits.

The situation is similar in other cantons: in Aargau, “around 700 people” will not benefit from any additional benefits from 2024, and in the cantons of Fribourg (405 people), Valais (301 people) and Basel, many claims will also be eliminated completely. -Stadt (253).

Pensioners are particularly disadvantaged

Based on estimates, the Swiss Social Welfare Conference (Skos) predicts that around 8,000 EL recipients across Switzerland will lose their right to additional benefits, two-thirds of whom are retired. Skos managing director Markus Kaufmann: “It is also likely that around a third of pensioners receiving EL have received less money since this month.” It is estimated that approximately 70,000 fewer people nationwide have received EL since the beginning of the year.

The extent of deductions for individual EL recipients varies widely. For some, this is a few francs, but sometimes 200 to 300 francs are lost per month.

According to Kaufmann, an important reason for EL reductions and write-offs is that the spouse’s income, as well as one’s own assets, are now taken into greater account when calculating benefit entitlement. It is therefore likely that some of those affected who no longer receive EL will request EL again within a few months, once they have exhausted their savings and thus fallen below the 100,000 franc asset threshold.

Three of the four members of the No Committee, who campaigned against the 13th AHV pension this week, supported the EL reform, with Häberli-Koller (centre), Feller (FDP) and Aeschi (SVP). GLP Ms Mettler was not yet in parliament at the time.

Citizens do not see social cuts

How does this vote for social cuts square with the promise to offer targeted support for financially weak pensioners in the future, most likely after the AHV vote? When asked, those responsible categorically deny the accusation that social aid has been cut. “The EL reform in question was aimed at maintaining the level of performance and making greater use of own resources,” said Aeschi on behalf of the No Committee. According to the constitutional mandate, additional benefits should especially benefit those who cannot make ends meet without this support.

“The people have in mind the well-being of the whole people,” Aeschi emphasizes. Therefore, people resist union initiative, which particularly harms the middle classes and lower income groups through higher wages and taxes.

There is no official definition of the word social cuts. However, the Federal Social Insurance Office states on its website that the EL reform means savings of 401 million francs for the public sector; This money previously benefited low-income retirees.

“Policies at national and cantonal level in recent years have increased the barriers to obtaining EL and social assistance in many areas,” says Skos managing director Kaufmann. For this reason, many people were embarrassed to ask for this help. “I hope that politicians will change their minds and that EL and welfare support for those affected by poverty will once again become a broad-based pillar of social security in our country.”

Ultimately: Skos does not expect the EL reform to significantly increase the number of welfare recipients. The reason: Many retirees, whose income is no longer enough to live on, still have assets too large to receive social assistance.
But this is not good news. Kaufmann: “According to the law, people over the age of 65 should definitely not benefit from social assistance.” There will now be “significantly more people” having to live slightly above the welfare line because of the EL reform.

Source :Blick