There, each person saves for medical expenses themselves; insurance only covers expensive procedures. That would reduce costs and create more transparency, said Schönenberger. For socially weak population groups, Schönenberger suggested government cushioning in the form of a sovereign wealth fund, like the one known in Singapore.
He also welcomed the approach of rewarding people who maintain a healthy lifestyle with discounts on supplementary insurance. This is not allowed in basic insurance today. However, Schönenberger emphasized that it was worth approaching the issue holistically: “If you exercise a lot and have a healthy weight, you should get your money back,” he told Tamedia.
However, the Sanitas boss rejected a unified fund. Today, health insurance companies have an incentive to reduce costs and remain innovative due to competition. With a monopoly both would disappear.
Pierre-Yves Maillard wants an initiative for a unified fund
On Thursday in Lausanne, the Vaud Council of States and union boss Pierre-Yves Maillard confirmed his intention to launch a new popular initiative to introduce a single public health insurance fund. Speaking at the Forum of 100, he said he hoped to present a text next autumn.
Referring to the failures of the single fund before the people in 2007 and 2014, the Vaudois said that the new initiative must be more understandable so that “people clearly understand the implications for them”, as was the case when they won the vote on the 13th. AHV pension was the case.
The contours of this new initiative are “currently being discussed,” continued the Council of States and President of the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB). However, he has already indicated that, in his opinion, this public fund should not be national, but rather “based on cantonal systems”.
