Lukas Reimann, a parliamentarian and member of the Swiss Peoples Party (UDC/SVP), fought to have parliamentarians paid by health companies partially excluded from government commissions dealing with health issues.
He thinks vested interests are behind high health premiums and that cartels must be broken. According to him 23 out of 25 of the members on such health commissions have links to the sector.
His motion was rejected by 69 to 99 votes, with 11 abstentions, receiving more support from the left than from his own party the UDC.
A similar project is already in the works and Reimann’s motion would only be an amendment to it, said the parliamentary office, while pointing out a logical flaw in his plan: those with a conflict of interest would be excluded from full participation in the commissions but still be able to pass judgement on health related decisions in parliament.
It seems there’s no magic pill to resolve conflicts of interest.
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Swiss Parliament press release (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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