Switzerland’s health insurance won’t be income based; Valais naturalised over 400 foreigners in one day; and more news in our Wednesday roundup.
Health insurance premiums will not be income-based, MPs decide
During its special session on Tuesday, the National Council deputies resolved a long-standing issue of whether health insurance premiums should be based on a person’s income.
The majority turned down this idea, preferring to keep the current system, where everyone pays the same rates, regardless of their financial situations.
Deputies agreed with the arguments of the Health Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, who followed the position the Federal Council has on this issue — that the current system is “already income-based,” because low-earners are eligible for government subsidies if health insurance premiums exceed 8 percent of their revenue.
Valais naturalises hundreds of foreigners in one fell swoop
The Valais parliament approved the naturalisation of 423 foreign nationals from 39 countries on Tuesday.
More than a quarter (27 percent) of new citizens were French nationals — 114 people — forming the largest group among those naturalised on Tuesday.
Other European Union nationals — Portuguese (79), Italians (41), and Germans (39) — rounded up the top four.
The fifth, in terms of the number of naturalisations, were UK citizens — 17 Brits became Swiss.
People from North Macedonia (14), Kosovo (13), and Serbia (11) represented the highest number of non-EU nationals who obtained their Swiss citizenship on May 6th.
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Zurich is second-happiest city in the world
There is no end to high praise showered upon Switzerland’s largest city in the past several weeks.
In April, it won the title of the world’s ‘smartest’ city.
On Tuesday, it ranked second in the Happy City Index, published by the London-based Institute for Quality of Life, which assesses 200 cities on how happy their residents are.
The results are based on 82 indicators across six broad categories, including governance, environment, economy, mobility, as well as physical and mental health, among others.
Only Copenhagen got a higher score.
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And speaking of Zurich…
These were the top baby names in the city in 2024
Last year, Emma and Matteo were the most popular first names for newborns born in Zurich, the city’ Statistics Office announced in a press release on Tuesday.
Out of 4,345 babies born to Zurich residents, Emma and Matteo ruled.
For girls, Sofia, Olivia, Ella and Anna were also popular names.
Among baby boys, Matteo ranked the highest, followed by Felix, Leonardo, and Liam.
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