5.4 billion Swiss francs: With this amount, the personal finances of the population were relieved in 2021 through premium reductions. That’s about as high as the budget for the Swiss army. A good one in four people in Switzerland received a premium reduction – paid for by the federal government and the cantons.
How high these premium reductions could be in the cantons in the coming year is currently the subject of intense debate. Because health insurance premiums will rise significantly – by an average of 6.6 percent.
In many cantons there is a willingness to go along with the increase in health insurance premiums next year.
The President of the Cantonal Conference of Health Directors (GDK), Lukas Engelberger, says: “Each canton has its own model for reducing premiums.” However, he noticed that there was a willingness in many cantons to go along with the increase in health insurance premiums next year. Individual cantons, such as Valais or Vaud, have already announced budget increases for premium reductions.
Cantons for premium reductions
In many other cantons, the willingness is great – also in the canton of Zug. Definitive decisions are still pending, but Health Director Martin Pfister (middle) says: “It is intended that the premium reduction will be significantly increased.” He assumes that this will cushion the increase in premiums for those entitled. Pfister also advocates a reduction in premiums for people who are barely getting any reductions. “That is politically wanted, but I would advocate it.”
If you want to strengthen the system, you have to start with the income limit.
Two years ago, the canton of Bern tightened the income limit in order to relieve more people of health insurance premiums. It is still unclear whether this will be possible again. Because the canton of Bern does not want to spend more money at the moment. However, government councilor Evi Allemann (SP) states: “Budget increases have no direct impact on the right to a premium reduction. If you want to strengthen the system, you have to start with the income limit.” The Bern government is now considering further steps, but these cannot be taken overnight.
In the “NZZ am Sonntag”, Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga suggested cushioning the rising energy prices with additional premium reductions, among other things. From the point of view of the Basel health director Lukas Engelberger (middle), this is the wrong instrument: “Premium reductions are there to alleviate the health insurance premium burden of the insured persons concerned.” They should therefore not be used for other purposes.
How high the premium reductions in the individual cantons will actually be in the coming year will only become clear in the coming months.