The wealthy canton of Zug wants its residents to share in its financial surplus. In addition to a significant reduction in health insurance premiums, further measures are planned to ease the financial burden on citizens. This is the kind of problem every finance director would like to have: the canton of Zug has so much money that it doesn't know what to do with it. In recent years, the canton has made profits of several hundred million francs.
Now a solution has been found. While residents of other cantons are suffering from rising health insurance premiums, the Zug government is proposing to cover almost the entire cost of inpatient hospital treatment for Zug residents in and The government intends to submit the proposal directly to the Cantonal Council. A referendum-capable resolution is expected to be passed at the end of January Health Director Martin Pfister explained to Blick that the idea of covering hospital costs was developed by the cantonal government in order to return some of the high income to the population.
Although there are no exceptions for newcomers, Pfister does not believe that the canton will now be overrun by newcomers, as there are only a few free apartments. Pfister also believes it is unlikely that patients will postpone their operations until in order to save on their deductible.
Operations would be carried out for medical reasons and with limited capacity. These measures apply for two years. However, there is a possibility that premiums will rise again after that. In November, Switzerland will also decide on uniform hospital financing , which could also be taken into account. This action will cost the canton of Zug around CHF million. The government is now swiftly referring the proposal to the cantonal council.
Theoretically, a referendum could be initiated. Will anyone oppose such a premium gift? Thanks to its low taxes, Zug is an attractive location for large companies. The canton benefits from many international companies and the super-rich. The commodities trader Glencore alone paid CHF million to the Swiss tax authorities last year, as reported by the Handelszeitung newspaper. And the forecasts remain positive: with the OECD minimum tax, further millions could flow in.
