By a vote of 6 to 5, the Social Security and Public Health Commission of the Council of States has requested that responsibility for the testing regime and the acceptance of the testing costs be left with the federal government until spring 2023, the parliamentary services announced on Friday. . . From then on, testing costs should no longer be covered by the public sector.
In the fall, the National Council decided in the accompanying proposal to extend and amend selected provisions of the Covid-19 law that the current regime should be maintained until the end of June 2024. This means that until then the federal government must carry out the tests. Pay.
The federal government wants the cantons to pay
The Federal Council wants the cantons to bear the testing costs from next year and no longer the federal government, as has been the case since the outbreak of the pandemic. In the debate in the National Council, Minister of Health Alain Berset (50) pointed out that this is part of a proper division of tasks. The federal government bore the lion’s share of the costs caused by the pandemic. The tests alone cost 2.3 billion francs in the first year.
The cantons have already opposed taking over the test costs during the consultations. The conference of health directors of the cantons expects that the cantons will incur additional costs of several hundred million francs.
The proposal now goes to the Council of States. (SDA)