Health insurance bosses are threatened with a hard wage ceiling

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Electricity, food, housing – everything costs more than before the pandemic. Inflation was 2.8 percent in 2022, but wages only increased by 2.2 percent. And now health insurance premiums are skyrocketing. Federal Councilor Alain Berset recently announced an “above average increase” for 2024.

Last but not least, the premiums are flowing into the pay packages of the health insurance fund managers – and these pockets are getting fatter: in 2021 Andreas Schönenberger, CEO of Sanitas, collected more than 950,000 francs, twice as much as his predecessor in 2017. Thomas Boyer, head of Groupe Mutuel, received more than 780,000 francs in 2021. Four years earlier there was 497,000 francs for the same job. CSS boss Philomena Coltrella increased her salary from 744,000 to almost 800,000 francs. Even the salary of the Minister of Health is relatively modest: Alain Berset receives CHF 480,000 per year.

“The exorbitant wages of health insurance executives are financed by contributions,” said SP national councilor Barbara Gysi. “We are talking about a social system whose basic insurance is compulsory for everyone. These are funds that should be used for health.” It is therefore clear to Gysi: “The wages of the top health insurers must be capped.”

A majority of the National Council agrees. In the summer of 2022, the Grand Chamber passed a motion calling for a hard pay cap for the heads of health insurers: board members may not earn more than 250,000 francs per year, including second pillar and fringe benefits. For board members, the upper limit should be CHF 50,000.

SP and Groen voted unanimously for the advance. There was also great support from the SVP: 42 national councilors of the People’s Party said yes, only eight rejected. The FDP, on the other hand, voted against the motion without exception. Most middle MPs also said no, but by no means all: 21 of them rejected, eight agreed, including party chairman Gerhard Pfister. Group leader Philipp Matthias Bregy abstained from voting.

Now the ball is in the court of the Council of States. On Monday, her health committee will consider the company. Your decision has a signal effect – and it is on the cutting edge: SP, Greens and SVP together make up six commissioners, FDP and middle seven. But Central Councilor Erich Ettlin, chairman of the Commission with a casting vote, sits on the board of directors of the CSS group. “For this reason, I will probably abstain from voting on the committee,” says Ettlin. “Even if I reject the proposal.” SVP State Councilor Hannes Germann, also a member of the Health Commission, wants to discuss the matter thoroughly first. “Current salaries are too high. But the required wage ceiling has been set a little too low.” The Commission needs to talk about this, says Germann. “An upper limit of a salary from the Federal Council seemed more plausible to me.”

It is therefore quite possible that the initiative will also find a majority in the Council of States Committee – albeit with a higher upper limit. “We can talk about the height of the wage ceiling,” says SP National Council member Gysi. “It is important that the excessive references finally come to an end.”

FDP State Councilor Damian Müller sees it differently. He also does not want to make a decision until he has heard all the arguments. But the vice-chairman of the Health Commission also says: “If you are arguing with the public about mandatory health insurance premiums, it would be fair to take a closer look at all government wages. In the federal administration alone, there are about 1,000 employees who earn more than 250,000 francs. The same value is also achieved by 80 to 90 percent of all members of the board of directors of state-related companies.”

There you will find top wages that are in no way inferior to those of health fund managers: postal boss Roberto Cirillo collected more than 970,000 francs in 2021. SBB CEO Vincent Ducrot received CHF 962,000. For Felix Weber, head of the accident insurance company Suva, it was CHF 802,000. But for Cirillo, Ducrot and Co. more to come. In March 2022, the bourgeois majority in the Council of States rejected a pay cap of one million francs for managers of federal companies.
The top officials of the federal administration cannot quite match such salaries: the maximum wage is just under 400,000 francs. In addition, there are various fees and bonuses.

However, all this is nothing compared to what the managers of the big Swiss companies earn: in 2021, Roche CEO Severin Schwan received 15 million, UBS boss Ralph Hamers and Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan each received more than 11 million.

And the health insurance companies? Will they soon have to settle for 250,000 francs? Groenen, SP and SVP have 18 seats in the Council of States. The FDP has twelve members, the middle 14. “The outcome is open,” says Hannes Germann.

The middle decides. Not that their councilors always follow their president. But pressure on politicians to target outrageous salaries increased dramatically after the collapse of Credit Suisse.

Only: What is an excessive salary? That depends on how you measure it. The average salary in Switzerland is CHF 80,000 per year.

Source:Blick