AHV, 2nd pillar and health insurance: these are the construction sites waiting for Berset’s successor

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Alain Berset (51) will resign from his office chair at the end of this year. There is probably a lot of demand for the department: on the one hand from his successor, but also from the previous Federal Council members.

There is a lot of creative freedom: the Home Affairs department not only houses the elderly and health care, but also culture, food safety and even the Federal Bureau of Meteorology. But those who follow Berset: the challenges are great. The overview.

In September 2022, the people approved another AHV reform – for the first time in more than 25 years. But this reform is only an intermediate step. Parliament has commissioned the next reform proposal before the end of 2026. There are also two AHV initiatives: the Young Liberals’ pension initiative wants to raise the retirement age to 66 and then link it to life expectancy – and the left wants a 13th AHV pension.

The referendum against reform of the pension fund is in force, trade union leader Pierre-Yves Maillard (55) recently announced in a Blick interview. The reform entails, among other things, a lower conversion rate for the calculation of pensions and benefits for participants in transition cohorts. The old-age provision must accommodate the imminent retirement of the baby boomers and the growing number of retirees. However, Parliament negotiated the compromise reached by the social partners in previous rounds of consultations, thus securing the referendum. Berset’s successor must represent the compromise for the people. It will be the first test, the vote will take place in the spring or summer of 2024.

In 2023, healthcare premiums for basic insurance will have risen by an average of 6.6 percent and a further increase is expected for 2024. Here, too, two initiatives are in the pipeline: the center party’s cost containment initiative and the SP’s premium waiver initiative, and indirect counter-proposals are in the works for both.

Thousands of nurses are missing from hospitals and homes. The Federal Council plans to implement the care initiative in two phases. The first, with a training offensive expected to start in mid-2024 and last eight years, and the ability for healthcare providers to bill certain services independently, has been completed. However, the Bundesrat wants to regulate further elements of the new constitutional article in a new law, which cannot enter into force before 2027. Think of better working conditions in healthcare, professional development and better reimbursements for healthcare services.

Insurers, hospitals and doctors have been struggling for years to come up with a new doctor rate to replace the outdated Tarmed, which hospitals and doctors use to pay their bills. Despite several attempts, the Federal Council has not yet approved the Tardoc fee structure proposed by the medical association FMH and the health insurance company Curafutura. The government pushed for cost neutrality improvements. Some cantons advocate the introduction of Tardoc at the end of 2022, even if it is not yet mature.

Berset said of his resignation that the Covid vote won closes a circle. But the pandemic is not over yet: the epidemiological situation needs to be monitored further. Unlike the tests, which have not been paid for by the federal government since the beginning of 2023, vaccination against Covid-19 in Switzerland is still free.

The pandemic brought it to light: in Swiss healthcare, too much is still happening analog instead of digital. Only a few have an electronic patient record. With legislative amendments to the electronic patient file, the Federal Council wants to ensure that not only intramural hospitals and rest homes work with the electronic file, but also outpatient health workers.

In May 2022, voters said yes to “Lex Netflix”. From 2024, the Film Promotion Act stipulates that streaming platforms such as Netflix must invest four percent of their turnover generated in Switzerland in local filmmaking. Moreover, they now have to offer thirty percent European films. The Federal Council must now regulate the implementation of these new requirements. These should apply from early 2024. (SDA/brother)

Source:Blick