The fight against healthcare reform is on the brink: the 13th AHV pension delays the left-wing referendum

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After the clear yes to the 13th AHV pension, the triumphal procession of the unions has come to a standstill: the referendum against the new healthcare financing is on the verge. “We have already collected 32,000 signatures,” VPOD Secretary General Natascha Wey (41) told Blick.

The public sector workers’ union held a referendum early this year to reject the latest health care reform. There is now just under a month left to collect the required 50,000 signatures and get the bill to the people. “It is doable, but it will be tight,” says Wey.

Part of the blame lies with a major trade union success: the voting campaign for the 13th AHV pension took a lot of energy. “A large part of our resources went to the voting campaign,” Wey explains. “Now we have to take to the streets again to collect the necessary signatures.”

Maillard supports the referendum

She can count on the support of a political heavyweight who is now putting his entire reputation on the line: union boss and SP Council of State member Pierre-Yves Maillard (56). The trade union federation has now also decided to support the referendum against the controversial “Uniform financing of services in the outpatient and inpatient sector” (Efas).

The goal of the proposal is to finance outpatient and inpatient health care services from a single source in the future. Nowadays, outpatient treatments are paid exclusively by health insurers, using premium money. At least 55 percent of inpatient care – including overnight stays in hospital – is covered by the cantons and the rest by health insurers.

All billing would now have to go through health insurers. The former cantonal funds flow to a “KVG common facility”, which distributes them accordingly. The cantons must now cover at least 26.9 percent of the total costs, and premium payers 73.1 percent.

These new financial flows are a thorn in Maillard’s side. “The reform gives health insurers even more power,” complains the former health director of Vaud. “In addition to 35 billion in bonus money, they would also manage 11 billion in taxpayer money in the future!” The cantons would therefore lose control over the healthcare system – and thus democratic control would be limited.

Rates do not cover costs everywhere

“The real problem is not the current financing, but rather that the rates for outpatient treatments do not cover the costs everywhere,” Wey explains. “This is a disincentive that the reform will not remove.” However, the trade unionist does not rule out co-financing of outpatient treatment by the cantons.

“But this reform goes too far and is dangerous,” she says. This also has to do with the fact that the financing of long-term care must also be processed according to the new distribution key – but only if cost-covering rates for care are available. “It’s a joke,” Wey complains. “The rates should already cover the costs today, but that is not the case.”

With the inclusion of long-term care and a new rate, the pressure on staff will increase again. “We also fear higher costs for the insured,” said the VPOD woman. “It is all the more important that the people can decide on it.”

Source:Blick