13 December 2024 – The Federal Council has initiated the consultation procedure for the implementation of the indirect counter-proposal to the premium relief initiative, which was rejected by Swiss voters on 9 June 2024. The counter-proposal stipulates that each canton will contribute a minimum annual amount to the premium subsidies, which will be adjusted in accordance with the rising costs of compulsory health insurance (obligatorische Krankenpflegeversicherung, OKP). The contribution will range from 3.5 to 7.5 % of the canton's gross OKP costs, depending on the premium burden of the lowest 40 % of insured individuals. Additionally, the cantons will be required to determine the proportion of premiums in relation to the available income of insured individuals.

To implement this, the Ordinance on the Federal Contribution to Premium Subsidies (Verordnung über den Bundesbeitrag zur Prämienverbilligung in der Krankenversicherung, VPVK) will be fully revised, and a new article will be added to the Health Insurance Ordinance (Krankenversicherungsverordnung, KVV). The VPVK will specifically clarify how the gross costs and the premium burden for the lowest-income insured individuals are to be calculated.

The Federal Council plans to enact the counter-proposal and the revised VPVK on 1 January 2026. In the first two years after its implementation, the minimum contribution will be set uniformly at 3.5 percent of gross costs, a target already met by most cantons.

For more information, see here.