A majority of Swiss would support the creation of a single health insurer, rather than the multiple options currently available, a survey in the Le Temps newspaper said on Wednesday.
The survey comes a week after the announcement of an average increase of 8.7% in health insurance premiums for 2024.
According to the online poll by the Ipsos Switzerland institute between September 27 and 29, 61.2% of the 800 respondents said they were in favour of a single health insurer. Some 21.1% were opposed and 17.7% had no opinion. The proportion of “yes” votes reached 68.1% in French-speaking Switzerland and 58.1% in the German-speaking part of the country.
A majority of 58% also approved the idea of adjusting premiums according to income levels. Here too, favourable opinions were found across the country: 67.6% in French-speaking Switzerland and 53.8% in German-speaking parts. Just over a quarter of Swiss were against such an adjustment of premiums based on income and 16.5% had no opinion.
While respondents supported changes in the financing of compulsory health insurance, they rejected the idea of limit benefits in exchange for paying a lower premium. This proposal only received 37.8% support, compared to 42.9% who opposed it. Rejection was more marked in French-speaking Switzerland (56.4%) than in German-speaking Switzerland (37.1%), where the idea appealed to 42.7%.
The Swiss have already twice refused the creation of a single national health insurer in popular votes.
As for tackling costs, the left-wing Social Democrats have launched an initiative demanding that no insured person should pay more than 10% of their income on health insurance premiums. The text demands that federal and cantonal authorities contribute more to reducing premiums.
It’s not weird at all. People with the time change their minds.
It’s also a fundamental principle of democracy.
I wonder if it’s just because of the very high increase this year. The last vote isn’t that long ago.