Public petition n°4076

Petitioner: Mondher Ghazel

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The purpose of this petition is to introduce, in Luxembourg, a legal framework for collective supplementary health insurance for employees in the private sector. This framework should provide for the following principles: 1. An obligation, for companies reaching a minimum employee threshold, to offer their employees collective supplementary health insurance; 2. A minimum employer contribution of 50% of the cost of the employee's basic coverage; 3. For companies with more than 100 employees, the possibility to offer three different levels of coverage adapted to employees' needs, provided that the price of the highest level does not exceed more than 100% above the lowest level; 4. Freedom of choice for employees, including: * joining the basic coverage; * optional extension to family members under negotiated conditions; * the possibility of exemption, exclusively where equivalent coverage already exists, notably through a spouse, another employer or a foreign scheme; 5. Tax neutrality, ensuring that the share paid by the employee benefits from tax treatment at least equivalent to that applicable to individually subscribed supplementary health insurance; 6. Adaptation according to company size, in order not to impose disproportionate administrative burdens on small and medium-sized enterprises; 7. Early application or specific mechanisms for companies employing staff in risk-related positions or under particularly demanding working conditions. These measures aim to improve access to healthcare, reduce household financial burden, strengthen fairness between employees, and reconcile social protection with economic competitiveness.

In Luxembourg, the Caisse nationale de santé is a key pillar of social protection. However, in practice, many healthcare costs remain only partially reimbursed, particularly for optical care, dental treatment, hospitalisation, as well as certain treatments and health-related products. As a result, supplementary health insurance has become a real necessity for many households. At the same time, the continuing rise in the cost of living - housing, energy, food and family-related expenses - reduces the ability of many families to afford individual health insurance. Many people therefore give it up, postpone taking out coverage, or choose insufficient protection, to the detriment of their health. This situation particularly affects: * families with children facing recurring optical or dental expenses; * young workers at the beginning of their careers who already face high housing costs; * employees who do not benefit from collective coverage through their employer; * households whose premiums rise significantly depending on family size. In addition, some individual contracts impose waiting periods or offer less favourable guarantees than collective plans. This creates inequality between employees: some benefit from coverage negotiated by their employer, while others must bear alone the cost of more expensive and often less advantageous individual insurance. A properly regulated development of collective supplementary health insurance would make it possible to better pool risks, obtain more favourable pricing, strengthen prevention, and improve access to healthcare. Such a measure would also strengthen the attractiveness of companies in Luxembourg in a context of competition with neighbouring countries to recruit and retain talent. This petition proposes a balanced approach that takes into account company size, employee freedom of choice, and economic competitiveness, in order to combine purchasing power, social fairness and health protection.