With health insurance premiums rising for the third consecutive year, Swiss voters are showing renewed interest in an old idea: replacing the country’s many competing health insurers with a single public insurer. According to a recent survey by GFS Bern, 53% of respondents support such a plan.
Right now, any idea that promises to cut health insurance premiums resonates with the public, said Tobias Keller of GFS Bern in an interview with SRF. The poll was commissioned by Merck Sharp & Dohme, a pharmaceutical company, but it aligns with other recent findings that suggest growing public frustration with the current system.
Switzerland’s partially privatised health insurance model has long been criticised for creating the illusion of competition while contributing to administrative inefficiencies and spiralling costs. The Socialist Party is seeking partners to launch a new initiative to change the current model.
Swiss insurers disagree. The industry group prio.swiss insists that a single-payer model would have no cost-reducing effect and would be less efficient due to the lack of competition. It blames rising premiums on higher spending, not structural flaws.
Swiss voters have already rejected a single-insurer system three times at the ballot box, but public sentiment may be shifting. Years of rising premiums have placed a growing financial burden on households, making once-dismissed reforms politically palatable again.
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GFS Bern poll (in German)
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