Premiums for daily sickness benefits insurance to rise from 2022 onwards
Quite a few SMEs have received fat mail: Premiums for daily sickness benefit insurance are rising for around one in three companies. This was the finding of a survey conducted by the offer portal Gryps.ch.
For once, Health Minister Alain Berset has good news to report: For the first time since 2008, health insurance premiums will fall in 2022, by an average of 0.2 percent. In addition, some health insurers will reduce their reserves. This will ultimately lead to a premium reduction of 1.3 percent, as announced by the FOPH on September 28, 2021.
Massively higher premiums for daily sickness benefit insurances
Private households can therefore look forward to budget relief. Not so companies that have taken out daily sickness benefits insurance: As a survey by the offer portal Gryps.ch revealed, almost one in three SMEs will have to pay higher KTG premiums from 2022. Small companies with 1 to 10 employees seem to be particularly affected. Moreover, the premiums for daily sickness benefits insurance will not increase in a homeopathic dose, but massively: There is talk of premiums increasing by up to 44 percent, and even increases of 100 percent are possible, as Gryps.ch knows from some cases.
No clear reasons for premium increases
The reasons for these premium increases are difficult to determine because they do not follow a clear pattern. Typically, premiums for daily sickness benefits insurance increase when a company has a higher number of claims. According to the survey mentioned above, one-fifth of the companies will not have to pay higher premiums next year despite claims. In turn, 17 percent of the companies surveyed will receive a higher premium bill even though they had no claims in 2021. And citing the Covid 19 pandemic as a "premium driver" also falls short: only 4 percent of the SMEs surveyed had a Covid claim - and can look forward to unchanged premiums.
Voluntary but useful
Although daily sickness benefits insurance is voluntary, it is now also widespread among many SMEs. If an employee is absent due to illness, the daily sickness benefits insurance takes over the employer's obligation to continue paying wages.
Sources: Daily Gazette and Gryps.ch
