Position paper on the premium relief initiative

Swiss patients have an interest in a solidly and fairly financed healthcare system. However, the SP's popular initiative entitled "Maximum 10% of income for health insurance premiums (premium relief initiative)" is not a solution to the challenge of financing our healthcare system. On the contrary, the initiative would create a considerable disincentive, as it reduces personal responsibility in the payment of benefits. Ultimately, it would lead to higher healthcare costs and less transparency about who pays for them. scienceindustries therefore rejects the initiative. 

The SP initiative demands that no household in Switzerland should have to spend more than 10 per cent of its disposable income on health insurance premiums. At least two thirds of the necessary premium reductions should be financed by the federal government and one third by the cantons. In addition, the insured persons would receive a guarantee for the financing of their support contributions. This is intended to prevent premium reductions from being cancelled. The initiative leaves open how long these guarantees will apply. The question of how the whole thing is to be financed and how cantons with insufficient financial resources are to pay the additional costs admitted by the initiators also remains unanswered.  

Basic insurance is financed via per capita premiums. These are independent of income and are the same for each category of person. This means that self-responsibility is also practised in a solidarity-based system. The initiators argue that more and more insured persons would be forced to choose a higher deductible in order to be able to pay the premiums. The initiative aims to remedy this situation by ensuring that each household does not have to pay more than 10 per cent of its disposable income on health insurance premiums. If the initiative is accepted, this will in fact mean that all insured persons who will benefit from it will choose the lowest deductible, as they will not have to bear the costs themselves. As a result, self-responsibility will no longer be practised across the board in our healthcare system and additional costs will be the result. This disincentive should not be introduced into our system. 

For scienceindustries, access to medical progress and innovation for all patients takes centre stage. In Switzerland, basic insurance benefits are currently covered by per capita premiums, deductibles and co-payments on the one hand and by tax revenue or premium reductions on the other. This means that solidarity and personal responsibility are already practised in our healthcare system today.  

Parliament has adopted an indirect counter-proposal to the premium relief initiative. It stipulates that the cantons must now spend a minimum amount of 3.5 to 7.5 per cent of the costs of compulsory basic insurance (OKP) on premium reductions. The concept also stipulates that the cantons will continue to have the authority to calculate the exact amount of the premium reduction. Parliament has thus taken up and implemented the main concern of the initiative.