Equalization funds play a key role in implementing social policy. They are responsible for managing old age insurance, disability insurance and income compensation insurance, in addition to other schemes.
Initially, only a select elite had access to pension funds.Over the course of the 20th century, they were gradually expanded and are now considered the ‘second pillar’ of Swiss old age provision. Yet even today, not all workers are insured by a pension fund.
Founded in 1918, Suva is one of Switzerland’s oldest social insurance institutions. It is distinguished by its tripartite organization encompassing employer organisations, trade unions and the Confederation.
![Swiss health insurance cards from various providers. Source: http://www.radiofm1.ch/mediathek/at/12682 [11.02.2014].](/img/containers/assets/imported_images/csm_krankenkassen_0fc765af96.jpg/c7ef8534615d9c303647d27ddc7827ae/csm_krankenkassen_0fc765af96.jpg)
Health funds are among the most influential stakeholders in social policy. They have successfully fended off centralist projects for an expanded welfare state since the late 19th century. They are also partly responsible for the fact that health insurance in Switzerland developed largely within the private sector.
Private insurers have been a vital part of the Swiss social insurance system from the very beginning. The nexus between public and private stakeholders shows that protection against social risks is also a hotly contested market.
The first unemployment funds were mainly set up by emerging trade unions. The federal act of 1924 granted them subsidies in order to safeguard their economic survival and develop public paritary unemployment funds. The introduction of compulsory insurance in 1976 brought a lasting change to the role of unemployment funds.