Citizens' Assembly discusses solutions to rising health costs
The Citizens' Assembly 2025, made up of 100 randomly selected Swiss residents, will meet for the first time this weekend at the University of Zurich.
Press release
Rising health care costs are among the most pressing challenges facing Switzerland. With skyrocketing premiums, closing hospitals and overburdened health care workers, health care policy is in crisis – solutions are needed. This weekend, the Citizens' Assembly will convene at the University of Zurich. At the opening meeting, 100 randomly selected participants from all over Switzerland with different backgrounds and experiences will come together to talk.
The Citizens' Assembly is a new way for citizens to discuss important social issues and negotiate solutions together. The focus is on ordinary Swiss residents: people of all ages, from a wide range of professions and from all over the country. In several weekend events and digital meetings, they will take an in-depth look at the current issue of rising health care costs. This randomly selected group reflects the diversity of perspectives and experiences in society and thus brings its own concerns and needs to the discussion.
Basic insurance, hospitals or care coordination?
During the kick-off weekend, participants will get a comprehensive overview of how the Citizens' Assembly works and what its goals are. In addition to getting to know each other and familiarizing themselves with the topic of “rising health costs,” the participants will define a focus for further discussions. The aim is to narrow down the topic and determine what is of particular relevance to the Citizens' Assembly – for example, basic insurance, hospitals, the expansion of services, the coordination of care, or health promotion and prevention.
New impetus in health policy
The research project is investigating whether citizens' assemblies are a suitable way of conducting important social debates. In the area of health policy in particular, where political decision-making often stagnates, citizens' assemblies could provide new impetus. The topics for the citizens' assembly were selected in a transparent and broad-based process that identified health care costs as a particularly urgent issue.
Prof. Dr. Daniel Kübler, co-initiator at the University of Zurich, says: “With the Citizens' Assembly, we are creating a space in which the population can directly express their views on a socially important topic. Particularly in health policy, we need solutions that take into account the interests and concerns of citizens.”
Citizens' Assembly drafts final report with reform proposals
Anaïs Zingg (30), a participant and mother of two from Zuzwil in the canton of St. Gallen, is excited: “I'm looking forward to discussing rising health costs with people from all over Switzerland. It's an issue that affects us all. Hopefully we can make a difference as a Citizens‘ Assembly.”
The Citizens’ Assembly will present its results in spring 2025. A final report will provide the basis for an objective public debate and give politicians a differentiated picture of public opinion. In it, the Citizens' Assembly will present arguments on various reform proposals and take a position on them.
This form of participation creates new spaces for social debate in order to strengthen the quality of public opinion-forming and the culture of debate. This could not only be important in health policy, but also in other areas of society.