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Meanwhile, federal councilors are almost constantly playing with the Health Insurance Act (KVG). The current discussion is whether the federal government wants to prohibit cantons from having so-called “blacklists” of health insurance premium payers in arrears. Those blacklisted only receive emergency medical care. The Bern preliminary advisory commission supports this. Before the parliament decides, the cantons can present their point of view. In its statement, the Aargau government rejects a Swiss-wide ban. “It would contradict the parliamentary majority in the canton of Aargau and interfere with the autonomy of the cantons.”
SP has been calling for a ban for years, SVP against
At the urging of the Grand Council, Aargau has been blacklisted since 2014. The government spoke out against it at the time, but was rejected. According to Linda Keller, a spokeswoman for Aargau Social Security (SVA), there are currently 11,280 people on the list, slightly fewer than already. As of mid-2018, the list comprised 12,249 names. Due to the loss certificates of delinquent payers, the municipalities had to reimburse insurance companies around 16.4 million francs in 2018.
Councilor and managing director of the vice presidency, Daniel Aebi, would think it would be wrong if the federal government banned blacklists. The cantons should be able to decide on this for themselves, as they (or in Aargau the municipalities) also have to be responsible for unpaid premiums. The list refers to “only people who can pay but don’t.” You are surprised that the Federal Office of Public Health already knows that these lists are useless, since they have only been around for a few years. An evaluation is still missing in Aargau. Aebi emphasizes that despite the blacklist, emergency care is guaranteed for payers in arrears. There would be no people on this list who “have a temporary bottleneck. There you can talk to the community. “
The SP doctor and Grand Councilor, Jürg Knuchel, sees it very differently: “I think the list of defaulters is a mistake.” It is better to use the resources for proper case management to be able to identify any social assistance need in time and to be able to strongly motivate creditworthy people to pay. That is why he advocates “a ban on the list of defaulters at the federal level.”
At the 2018 Grand Council, the SP made an attempt to abolish the blacklist. The number of people who cannot pay but could pay has increased continuously. This suggests “that the list has no deterrent effect,” Knuchel said. With reference to efforts to abolish blacklists nationwide, the SP withdrew the initiative at the end of 2018.
New model for defaulting on premium payments
The government concluded that the list was definitely justified, but that tangible accompanying measures were needed. It is too early for a final evaluation. The result of an analysis should be available by the end of 2022.
The Aargau government welcomes the fact that the federal government wants to offer a more affordable insurance model with a restricted service provider option (e.g. HMO or family doctor model) for the insured in arrears, and also welcomes the fact that the Federal Council can make exceptions if necessary. Grand Councilor SVP Aebi also supports the fact that a health insurance company may in the future divide the blacklisted people into a cheaper insurance model. Knuchel could also imagine a “reallocation to reduce the amounts of the borrower’s notes.” SP-Grossrat does not consider automatic transfer to a cheaper insurance model desirable. However, he also does not see any fundamental objection to it.
Ban the blacklist debate? Join the discussion at www.aargauerzeitung.ch
