Annual Report - paperJam

aising contributions is systematically adopted
because of the bipartite alliance between the
trade unions and the administration.
As the insured persons are the sole beneficiaries
of the healthcare system, the long-term solidarity
of business interests with a healthcare system
whose costs far exceed the assumption of what
is useful and necessary is gradually being eroded.
In its road map for healthcare, the UEL has made
a proposal that the contribution paid by businesses
should be frozen at the current level of the
employers’ contribution, so exempting businesses
from any future increase.
The healthcare reform:
law of 19 December 2010
The hasty vote of a healthcare reform in 2010
shows just how apt our above remarks in fact are:
Although a structural reform had been announced,
the final outcome will certainly not
enable the shortcomings of the system to be
made good.
The employers’ organisation advised the
Government, but without success, to withdraw
the text which had been deprived of all substance
during the procedure and to rework it entirely.
While welcoming certain measures, such as the
substitution of pharmaceuticals, the introduction
of the shared care dossier and better coordination
of the hospital sector, we can only regret the
fact that good governance of the social security
institutions – essential to guarantee sound and
efficient management of healthcare insurance –
has not in fact been touched upon.
Accident insurance
The year 2010 saw two reforms of accident
insurance: the law of 12 May 2010 covering
technical aspects based on an opinion paper
by the Economic and Social Committee in 2001
and the introduction of a single contribution rate.
The employers’ organisations, including the
ABBL, finally subscribed to the solidarity-based
approach, provided that financial incentives are
maintained for businesses with a view to the
prevention of accidents at work. A bonus-malus
system will accordingly have to be introduced
before the end of the current legislative period
in order to reward the efforts made by companies
in the area of safety and health at work.
Pension insurance
With the reforms of the health and accident
insurance schemes, that of pension insurance
was sidelined. This reform will be the main political
issue of 2011. The employers’ organisations
will continue to insist upon the need for action
in the field of pensions. The UEL had already
made its proposals to the Government in 2009.
09 July 2010
ABBL Response to the EU Commission’s Public
Consultation on Derivatives and Market Infrastructures.
ABBL Response to the EU Commission’s Public
Consultation on Short Selling.
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