Swiss voters reject limits on healthcare spending

Both healthcare initiatives come in response to spiralling healthcare costs that are putting significant strain on households in Switzerland. Keystone / Christian Beutler

Two initiatives to tackle rising healthcare costs failed at the ballot box on Sunday. Swiss voters also gave a resounding yes to a new electricity law and rejected an initiative on vaccination.

The “Premium Relief Initiative”, launched by the left-wing Social Democratic Party, failed to convince Swiss voters on June 9. The final results published on Sunday afternoon showed 56% of Swiss voted no to the initiative.

“It’s a surprisingly clear no for the 10% initiative,” Lukas Golder, a political scientist from gfs.bern research institute told Swiss public television, SRF. “The argument questioning who would pay to cover the cost of the subsidies was a decisive factor that gained importance with voters over the campaign.”

The strongest support for the initiative came from the French-speaking part of Switzerland, Golder added.

As expected, the Centre Party’s proposal to put a brake on healthcare costs also failed at the ballot box. Some 63% of voters rejected the Cost Brake Initiative.

The turnout was lower than for the previous vote on pensions in March.

Both initiatives came in response to spiralling healthcare costs that are putting significant strain on households in Switzerland. In the past 20 years health insurance premiums have more than doubled. In 2024 alone, healthcare premiums rose by 8.7% on average.

The Premium Relief Initiative sought to lighten household healthcare bills by granting subsidies to households when insurance premiums reach more than 10% of disposable income. It called on the federal government and cantons to pick up the slack when the 10% is reached.

The “Cost Brake Initiative,” put forward by the Centre Party, called on the government to take action when healthcare spending increases by 20% more than wages in a year.

The results aligned with the most recent voter survey by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, SWI swissinfo.ch’s parent company conducted two weeks before the vote.

Other issues on the ballot

Two other issues were on the ballot on June 9: a referendum on the country’s electricity law and an initiative on compulsory vaccination.

Some 69% voted yes on the electricity law, which had faced a referendum. The law, which was approved by parliament in September 2023, sets out to boost renewable energy and guarantee the security of the country’s electricity supply, particularly in winter.

Several environmental groups collected enough signatures to force the referendum, arguing that the new law poses a threat to the environment because it would ease the construction of renewable energy installations.

The fourth issue on the ballot was launched by a libertarian movement during the Covid-19 pandemic. The initiative “for freedom and physical integrity” aims to ban compulsory vaccination. It also seeks to prevent social or professional disadvantages if a person refuses vaccination. This suffered a major, albeit expected, defeat with 74% of voters against the initiative.

Edited by Reto Gysi von Wartburg/ts.