INTERVIEW: EVELINE RUTZ Parliament rejected your first motion in 2024. Why are you trying again? Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter: as a member of the Council of the Swiss Abroad (CSA) and a politician who works in foreign affairs and travels around the world, I can see that the problem has not gone away. Indeed, more and more elderly Swiss now live outside the EU/EFTA area. They no longer have mandatory health insurance cover and are unable to secure equivalent healthcare in their country of residence. Switzerland’s Health Insurance Act, which dates back to the 1990s, fails to take account of this reality, which is why I am again proposing that expats be allowed to opt in to Swiss health insurance voluntarily. Your original motion lost out by only six votes. Yes, that’s right. We didn’t do enough lobbying in 2024. But here’s the thing: I am not asking the Federal Council for ready-made solutions. All I want it to do is focus on the issue. The government owes it to those affected. What new arguments will you use to convince your parliamentary colleagues? There is a systemic gap in healthcare coverage – we are not merely talking about a few individual cases. Unfortunately, many National Councillors are unaware. I also want to put more emphasis on the economic arguments. People living abroad normally don’t draw any supplementary benefits or rely on expensive care infra- “There is a systemic gap in healthcare coverage” Swiss who live in countries outside the EU/EFTA area often have inadequate health insurance. Centre politician and CSA member Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter wants the federal government to do something about it. She says it is in Switzerland’s interests for more expats to be treated in the country where they live. structure. This lessens the burden on our welfare system. If Swiss Abroad in non-EU/EFTA countries had proper health insurance, they would seek treatment locally even if their needs were complex. Has the issue become more pressing? Yes, it has. International mobility has increased. More and more people who emigrate do so because they struggle to live off their state pension in Switzerland. They move to places with a lower cost of living and cheaper healthcare, often after having paid into our system for decades. There are also growing numbers of people moving abroad to work for a few years. What model do you envisage? We still have to find one. There are various approaches; we need to analyse them and then define a clear framework. Who exactly should be entitled to health insurance? How much should policyholders pay? What benefits should be included? And how will the costs be spread? We want a fair solution that also works for health insurers. The idea is not simply to transplant the Swiss system to other countries. Does this mean collaboration between the public and private sectors? Yes. I have been speaking to health insurers, who agree that a legal framework is necessary. How much money could Switzerland save if there were less medical tourism? I don’t have any official figures, but I hear physicians say that many Swiss Abroad return to Switzerland for expensive operations. After re-registering in the country, some depend on welfare assistance and claim suppleNational Councillor Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter (Centre, Basel-Landschaft) wants Swiss Abroad in non-EU/EFTA countries to be able to opt in to Swiss health insurance voluntarily. Will her motion succeed at the second attempt? Photo: Keystone Swiss Review / October 2026 / No. 4 28 Politics
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