Divided SVP Party leadership backs away from No to healthcare reform
The referendum on the amendment to the Federal Health Insurance Act (KVG) will take place on November 24. This concerns the uniform financing of benefits. The members of the SVP are divided - the party leadership is now voting to abstain after all.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- The referendum on the KVG amendment will take place on November 24, 2024.
- The amendment is intended to introduce uniform financing of healthcare services.
- In the current system, the cantons only contribute to the costs of inpatient treatment, while health insurers bear the entire costs of outpatient treatment.
- The bill was approved by the majority of parliament - including the SVP parliamentary group. The party leadership around SVP parliamentary group leader Thomas Aeschi opposes it.
- The party leadership's "no" vote has led to disagreements within the party, which will be discussed at the delegates' meeting on October 12.
- However, the party leadership has now changed its mind - and is recommending that delegates vote against.
The Federal Council and parliament have been discussing healthcare reform for over a decade. The reason for this is the different financing of services and the associated costs.
In the current system, the cantons contribute 55% of the costs of inpatient treatment with overnight stays in hospital with taxpayers' money. The remaining 45 percent is covered by health insurers.
In the case of outpatient treatment, 100 percent of the costs fall to the health insurers, which results in an increase in premiums. Care services at home or in a nursing home are covered by patients and health insurers to the tune of around 54%. The rest is covered by the canton of residence with taxpayers' money.
Lower costs and improved quality of care
Inpatient treatments have higher costs, but are still preferred to outpatient treatments. This is despite the fact that many of the treatments and surgical procedures could be carried out more cheaply on an outpatient basis, according to the Swiss Medical Association.
The overall assumption of costs and the threat of premium increases are a deterrent to outpatient treatment. Which is why Parliament passed the KVG amendment in December 2023. The referendum on the uniform financing of outpatient and inpatient services (Efas) will now take place on November 24, 2024.
With this reform, the cantons are to bear at least 26.9% of the costs, regardless of the service. The remaining 73.1% is to be borne by the health insurers.
The uniform financing of services is intended to "promote the most medically appropriate and cost-effective treatment". It is also intended to promote cooperation between doctors, therapists, hospitals and nursing homes. The aim is to identify health problems more quickly, avoid unnecessary treatment and improve the quality of care.
According to the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH), better coordination should also curb cost growth. A study commissioned by the FOPH estimates the annual savings potential at around CHF 440 million.
Majority in favor of health reform - SVP party leaders not
The reform is not only popular with doctors, hospitals and health insurers, but also with the parties that adopted the reform bill in parliament last December.
This included the majority of the SVP parliamentary group. However, as various media outlets have now reported, the party leadership committee led by SVP parliamentary group leader Thomas Aeschi has unanimously proposed a "no" vote.
According to the "Aargauer Zeitung" newspaper, Aeschi justified the party leadership's "no" vote by arguing that the cantons and municipalities would be relieving themselves in the area of long-term care at the expense of premium payers. In addition, the service providers are in favor of the reform because they are not affected by the expenditure side.
Various cantonal sections disagree with this, including the largest SVP section in the canton of Zurich. In addition, six SVP government councillors who are in charge of healthcare in the cantons of Zurich, Bern, Aargau, Fribourg, Thurgau and Uri have sent a letter to their members calling on them to vote in favour of the healthcare reform.
Uniform financing would correct the mistake that cheaper outpatient treatment costs premium payers more because the cantons and municipalities do not contribute to the costs.
Change of course before the showdown
On Friday afternoon, the U-turn followed. The party leadership and the large executive committee of the SVP now recommend voting against the proposal instead, reports the "Blick" newspaper.
According to the "Aargauer Zeitung", the result was extremely close: The vote resulted in a stalemate. In the end, party president Marcel Dettling put his foot down and finally took the side of the "no" vote.
Party father Christoph Blocher also spoke out on his own TV show "Tele Blocher" on Friday and spoke out in favor of the health reform.
