The rise in health costs must be limited. The Federal Council, however, rejects the popular initiatives of the PDC “For lower premiums” and the PS on the reduction of premiums. He decided Wednesday to oppose them two indirect counter-projects.
The PDC initiative requires that the Confederation and the cantons take binding incentive measures when the cost of care rises too sharply in relation to wage trends. If growth is stronger than wages, the Confederation, the cantons, health insurers and service providers must take steps to reduce these costs.
Too rigid
This mechanism is too rigid, says the government. The initiative does not take into account demography, medical-technical progress or the fact that wages depend on cyclical developments. The PDC initiative could provoke two-tiered medicine.
The Federal Council is proposing to introduce a cost containment target in compulsory insurance. The Confederation and the cantons will establish each year the extent to which costs can increase in the various fields of compulsory insurance. Corrective measures will have to be taken.
The cost control objective responds to the request made in the initiative. It indicates the manner and the measures allowing to reach the fixed goals, without entailing a rationing of the necessary medical services.
Premium reduction
In addition, the Federal Council also rejects the PS initiative “maximum 10% of income for health insurance premiums”. The initiative aims to relieve the budget of low-income households. It provides for a fixed allocation key for the funding of subsidies. The reduction in premiums would be financed at least two-thirds by the Confederation, the balance going to the cantons.
Premiums represent an ever-increasing burden for households, the government recognizes. Some cantons have reduced their share in the funding of individual premium reductions and the differences are significant between the cantons. This needs to be improved. But, he regrets, the party does not address the issue of costs and does not create an incentive to control them.
The Federal Council wants to continue to act in the area of individual reductions. But this should not go through a percent limitation, said Minister of Health Alain Berset at a press conference.
More for certain cantons
In its indirect counter-project, the Federal Council proposes that the cantonal part paid for the reduction of premiums be linked to the gross costs of health, ie the premiums and the participation in the costs paid by the insured. These gross costs are strongly influenced by cantonal decisions, recalls the government.
The cantonal contribution will also be calculated according to the charge of the remaining premium. Cantons where costs are higher and where the burden on households is higher should pay more. The federal share remains unchanged. In the opinion of the Federal Council, this counter-project makes it possible to act more efficiently and more durably on the financial burden that premiums represent for the budget of a household.
The Federal Council is already working on measures to curb the rise in healthcare costs. A first package was submitted to Parliament in August 2019.
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