Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

Democratic Primaries

Showing Original Post only (View all)
 

Gothmog

(166,471 posts)
Fri Mar 13, 2020, 08:50 PM Mar 2020

Switzerland rejects single-payer in landslide, keeps its version of Obamacare [View all]




Swiss voters resoundingly rejected a proposal to move the country to a single-payer system on Sunday. Instead, the country will keep its private health insurance system, which looks a whole lot like Obamacare.

Two-thirds of Swiss voters opposed creating a state-run health plan in the national referendum. The issue was put to a vote after Swiss campaigners gathered more than 100,000 signatures, the threshold for getting a national vote; some initial polls in 2013 had shown strong support for a state-run system.

For a country with a relatively small population (8 million), Switzerland comes up a shocking amount in debates over American health care. That's probably because the Swiss health care system looks pretty similar to the one Obamacare sets up.

Since 1996, Switzerland has required all residents purchase coverage through an individual mandate. "If you move to Switzerland, you have three months to buy coverage and it's retroactive to your arrival," Aaron Carroll explains in his excellent video primer on the Swiss health care system.

Swiss residents buy coverage from private health insurance plans, who compete for their business. The average monthly premium for adults, in American dollars, was $329 in 2013. There are no pre-existing conditions in Switzerland; insurers are only allowed to vary premiums based on age, charging different rates for children under 18, young adults between 19 and 25, and adults over 25.
If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for:
Joe Biden
44 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
ooops. George II Mar 2020 #1
Bernie, aoc, sirota, turner and all those that were fooled...are you listening? Thekaspervote Mar 2020 #2
medicare with an advantage policy is cheaper than the swiss price nt msongs Mar 2020 #3
No it isn't...the deductibles and copays are pretty high...by sis in law owes over a 1200. and she Demsrule86 Mar 2020 #8
Medicare beneficiaries have been paying in for decades, which would Hoyt Mar 2020 #28
We could easily be happy with a plan like that. As long as workers still got the part of their pay brewens Mar 2020 #4
Post removed Post removed Mar 2020 #5
The question doesn't seem honest to me beastie boy Mar 2020 #6
+1 Just_Vote_Dem Mar 2020 #7
Oohhh.. Thanks for that. Cha Mar 2020 #10
K&R betsuni Mar 2020 #9
Medicare is NOT free zak247 Mar 2020 #11
MFA as proposed is similar to Medicare in that it is a single payer, government run system, BUT... thesquanderer Mar 2020 #13
Sanders just uses the Medicare name for its familiarity draw. Celerity Mar 2020 #14
Precisely. His plan is nothing like the existing Medicare system. He's co-opted the name... George II Mar 2020 #16
He has a bad tendency to falsely mislabel, his biggest error was to cling to his self-labelling as a Celerity Mar 2020 #17
I know a low-income senior who is scraping by every month to keep up w her Medicare payments.... Hekate Mar 2020 #37
Odd BidenBacker Mar 2020 #12
The Swiss tend to be wealthy and are generally healthier than we are mvd Mar 2020 #15
Why did sanders plan fail in Vermont? Gothmog Mar 2020 #18
That was a legislative failure mvd Mar 2020 #20
Denial is not just a river in Africa Gothmog Mar 2020 #22
Wrong mvd Mar 2020 #33
sanders utterly and completely failed to get his magical plan adopted in Vermont Gothmog Mar 2020 #35
All this talk as if the Republicans and conservative half Hortensis Mar 2020 #40
So what kept them from passing "the tax plan to fund it?" ehrnst Mar 2020 #24
Societal savings are not tax revenues and cannot be used to pay for a plan in the real world Gothmog Mar 2020 #36
I understand that the instant "uprising of the proletariat" upon Sanders' swearing in ehrnst Mar 2020 #41
Without a magical voter revolution, none of sanders agenda can be adopted Gothmog Mar 2020 #42
Yep... ehrnst Mar 2020 #44
It's not That they lacked courage. It's that they know math. GulfCoast66 Mar 2020 #29
So what is preventing a "legislative failure" to pass a tax plan M4A at the federal level? ehrnst Mar 2020 #43
Bernie gets very testy when asked about what lessons are to be learned from Green Mountain Care ehrnst Mar 2020 #26
"The Swiss tend to be wealthy"? musette_sf Mar 2020 #19
True about the infrastructure but they are more well off overall mvd Mar 2020 #21
Um. musette_sf Mar 2020 #23
+1000. ehrnst Mar 2020 #25
? mvd Mar 2020 #32
Maybe one reason they are wealthy is because they have a common sense Healthcare system? GulfCoast66 Mar 2020 #30
Definitely not the reason mvd Mar 2020 #31
Well. We actually agree. I'm not intrinsically against MFA. GulfCoast66 Mar 2020 #34
Whoomp there it is. oasis Mar 2020 #27
Wow. Go, Swiss. Hekate Mar 2020 #38
Guess they didn't feel the revolution Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Mar 2020 #39
Latest Discussions»Retired Forums»Democratic Primaries»Switzerland rejects singl...»Reply #0