A little perspective from someone who lives and works in Switzerland:
The average wage in Switzerland is ~6K CHF. As a matter of fact, my daughter who just became an RN earns 6K starting.
So, no one is going to quit their job to get a free 2,5k!
I don’t know where the author gets the idea that the Social Insurances pay for “universal health care” - they don’t! That is paid for individually, but there is a universal requirement. My plan (Family of four, high deductables / franchises) runs at well over 800/month).
From your monthly check -
5% is withheld for “Social Security”
1% for Unemployment and
1% for non work related accidents
another 7% is normally withheld for your pension (varies)
taxes are NOT withheld, but you are “encouraged” to pay into an account monthly to cover the taxes due ~10%
All told, you lose at least 30% (including Health Insurance).
Prices (in Francs):
Gas = 6.75/gallon
Childrens Levis = 130 (non brand can be cheap ~50)
Beef Cubes for stew 9.30/lb (at a discount grocery)
These types of initiatives are raised almost every year by the “young socialists” who only need to get 100k people to sign a petition to get it on the ballot. Most never make it into law. Currently they are pushing a 1:12 plan which would limit the pay of the highest paid person in the company to 12x what the least paid person receives. It appears doomed. Apparently enough people have realized that the CEO’s would simply restructure the companies and / or outsource the “cheap” jobs ....
Thanks - danke - for the on the spot reporting. I lived there for a decade as well, and worked in human resources. So I know the system as it was 15 years ago pretty well. I do think we could have benefitted from going more Swiss re health insurance instead of this crap.
The three levels of insurance - private, semiprivate, and ward, mean that you get what you pay for, and if you can’t afford much, your care is decidedly less good. That is how everything should be in life. You pay $500, your TV is not as nice as when young $5000. ObamaCare should offend everyone’s sense of fairness and decency.