Green Weichelt advocates a revolution in health insurance: premiums should depend on income

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It’s a hot summer, but the tremors are already starting. In the autumn, Minister of Health Alain Berset (51) will announce how much the health care premium will increase next year – it must be more than seven percent. Healthcare costs are becoming a major problem for more and more people.

Green National Councilor Manuela Weichelt (55, ZG) now wants nothing less than a systemic change: In an initiative, she calls on the Federal Council to redesign health insurance premiums to be means- and wealth-dependent. This means that those who earn more pay a higher premium – those who earn less pay correspondingly less.

“That’s Absurd”

“Nowadays a billionaire pays as much for basic insurance as a Migros saleswoman. That is absurd,” says Weichelt. She points to other countries, such as Germany, where premiums are already dependent on income. “This system would not be new in Switzerland either.” Those who work pay the premium for non-occupational accident insurance based on their wages: “Why shouldn’t we finance illness in the same way as an accident?”

According to Weichelt, the premiums are no longer affordable for a large part of the population. The system of premium discounts is also insufficient. The Green National Council is confident that the new system will not create a “bureaucracy monster”. “On the contrary, this would remove the enormous administrative burden for the premium reduction.”

Silberschmidt warns against overconsumption

The proposal is not well received by everyone. “I don’t get the bread cheaper at the bakery just because I earn less,” says FDP national councilor Andri Silberschmidt (29, ZH). Artificially discounting premiums creates false incentives. “Those who pay less for their bread tend to buy more. In healthcare, a free mentality can lead to overconsumption. The rest of the population pays for that.”

The premium cuts would work. “Our system relieves low incomes in a targeted way and with large amounts.” Each year, Switzerland spends the same amount on premium discounts as it does on the military.

Silberschmidt and Weichelt agree on one point: “Rising premiums are a problem.” For the National Council of the FDP, however, other solutions are in the foreground. “Politicians should remove ineffective benefits from basic insurance, so that premiums fall.” There is also potential for savings in digitization in healthcare.

Source:Blick