(Bloomberg) — Swiss voters are growing increasingly skeptical of proposed reforms to the country's health care system in a new opinion poll ahead of the June 9 vote.
Support for the left's plan to limit insurance premiums to 10 percent of income has fallen to 50 percent, public broadcaster SRG SSR, which commissioned the survey, reported on Wednesday. A counterproposal to limit health spending put forward by a center-right party has also seen its support fall since last month's poll and is likely to be rejected.
Switzerland is one of the few European countries where citizens pay a flat rate for health insurance, rather than having it adjusted according to income. Due to high prices, Switzerland also has the highest per capita health expenditure in Europe.
Under Switzerland's direct democracy, citizens vote up to four times a year on issues ranging from state taxes to how cows are farmed. After a vote to increase state welfare in March – the first successful referendum on such an issue in more than a century – political analysts had speculated that the traditionally liberal country might back more social spending.
Pollsters said the vote on health reform was creating “widening polarization between the left and the right.”
“The lowest-income and low-income groups and those without training view the proposal very favorably,” the report said. “Only those with higher incomes and those with more education have a majority opposed the proposal.”
On June 9, Swiss voters will also be asked to vote on a government plan to increase the country's renewable energy production, and a proposal to permanently ban mandatory vaccinations. The former is expected to pass with almost three-quarters of the population, while the latter is expected to be rejected by a similar margin.
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