Proposal for a ban on health insurance advertising is off the table
Swiss health insurance companies will continue to be able to use premium money for advertising. A parliamentary proposal for such a ban was rejected by the National Council on Tuesday and is therefore off the table.
The large chamber rejected the parliamentary initiative by Baptiste Hurni (SP/NE) by 122 votes to 71. Hurni submitted the initiative while still a member of the National Council. Today he is a member of the Council of States. He argued that health insurance premiums were rising and rising, but health insurance companies were advertising on a grand scale. This "unnecessary expenditure" should be stopped.
The National Council's Social Security and Health Committee (SGK-N) approved the initiative at the beginning of this year. However, the Council of States' sister committee did not agree with this decision, so the initiative was returned to the SGK-N.
The committee has now requested that the proposal be rejected. Commission spokesperson Kris Vietze (TG/FDP) said in the Council that, in the view of the Commission majority, a ban on advertising would prevent health insurance companies from advertising new offers. This would inevitably hinder innovation, the diversity of offers and competition.
Implementation problems are also to be feared, as many health insurance companies are active in both the basic and supplementary insurance sectors. In addition, the health insurance companies' advertising expenditure accounted for around 0.4 percent of the premium volume. There would therefore be no significant savings. (SDA/swi)
