The meeting took place in Bern between a delegation of the Ticino State Council and the Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, head of the Federal Department of the Interior, represented a crucial moment in bringing the tensions affecting the canton to the attention of the federal government. The meeting, requested by Ticino in recent weeks, was held in the presence of several representatives of the federal administration, including Sabine D'Amelio-Favez, Director of the Federal Finance Administration.

The cantonal delegation was led by the President of the Government Norman Gobbi and the state councilors Raffaele De Rosa e Marina Carobbio Shells, protagonists of a confrontation defined as "frank and direct" by both sides.

Healthcare and health insurance remain the main concern

Among the topics addressed, that of health costs emerged forcefully. Ticino recalled how the increase in health insurance premiums is putting pressure on both families and the cantonal budget, already strained by particularly delicate economic and social dynamics.

The delegation reiterated the need for the Confederation to consider urgent structural measures to contain the growth of healthcare spending. This trend, according to the Ticino government, risks undermine citizens' trust in the system and to undermine national cohesion – an element that the Canton considers particularly sensitive for a border region like its own.

Equalization and savings policies: chapters still open

The dialogue also touched on the topic of intercantonal financial equalization, currently at the center of a federal consultation to revise the ordinance governing the system. According to the Council of State, the awareness-raising efforts conducted in recent months have contributed to the inclusion of some of Ticino's requests in the federal proposal.

Alongside the equalisation, the delegation emphasised the possible effects of Confederation savings measures, which could generate further burdens for the Canton, already faced with increasingly limited room for manoeuvre.

Elisabeth Baume-Schneider and the attempt to strengthen dialogue with Bern

The Ticino government, aware of the complexity of the challenges facing the canton, aims to consolidate collaboration with federal authorities. In this regard, meetings like the one with Baume-Schneider aim to: strengthen political awareness at the national level and to identify concrete tools to address problems that, in recent years, have assumed critical proportions.

For Ticino, the goal is clear: to obtain rapid and coordinated responses, at a time when the pressure on public finances and households appears unlikely to ease.

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