On 4 March 2018, Vaud voters decide on an unusual initiative: 'For the reimbursement of dental care'. Launched in 2014 by the communist PdA and solidaritéS with some 15,000 signatures, it seeks to bring the mouth into the welfare system — dental care being the great absentee of health insurance.
The text proposes to enshrine in the cantonal constitution a compulsory dental insurance, financed on the AHV pension model through equal contributions from employers and employees. The cost is estimated at around 350 million francs a year.
The left, the unions and part of the cantonal government see a major social advance; the right and business circles denounce an unbearable burden on firms. Health minister Pierre-Yves Maillard (Socialist) had floated a counter-proposal funded by a sugary-drinks levy, but it was swept aside in parliament. Voters therefore decide on the initiative alone.
▲ The No camp prevails The initiative is rejected: 57.6% no. Turnout: 55.7%. | ▼ The Yes camp The initiative (PdA, solidaritéS, the left, the unions) gathers only 42.4% yes — not enough. |
The actors involved
▲ Yes camp • PdA and solidaritéS (sponsors) • Vaud Socialists and Greens • The centre (Christian Democrats) • Trade unions and various associations • Part of the cantonal government, including Socialist health minister Pierre-Yves Maillard (author of a counter-proposal) | ▼ No camp • The Liberals (PLR), unanimously opposed • The SVP • The Vaud Employers' Federation (Christophe Reymond, secretary-general) • Business circles |
Arguments and verdicts
▲ Arguments FOR (Yes camp) Dental care is the great absentee of insurance Sponsors denounced access reserved for those who can pay. ✓~ Diagnosis confirmed, solution rejected. The coverage gap remained real: without insurance, dental health stayed 'a private matter'. A 2023 motion to help the poorest was even rejected. Source: Le Temps; Vaud cantonal parliament. Without a solution, the problem will return Sponsors warned that doing nothing would merely postpone the issue. ✓ Confirmed. The subject did not disappear: after the 2018 no and the rejection of a targeted-aid motion in 2023, a new dental-care reimbursement initiative was launched in 2025. Source: solidaritéS Vaud, 2025. | ▼ Arguments AGAINST (No camp) A new insurance would cost too much (~350 million/year) 'One more Vaud peculiarity' for firms, said Christophe Reymond (Employers' Federation). ✓ Burden avoided. The no waived the compulsory contribution: the roughly 350 million annual burden and the feared employer levy never materialised. The budgetary status quo was preserved. Source: 24 heures; Vaud Employers' Federation. Dental health calls for targeted aid, not universal insurance Opponents preferred support for the poorest over coverage for all. ✓~ Partly followed. The canton opted for a targeted prevention-and-care scheme rather than universal coverage. But targeted aid stayed modest: a 2023 motion to expand it was rejected. Source: Canton of Vaud (government); cantonal parliament. |
The outcome, since 2018
Six years on, Vaud dental health remained a private matter. The no waived the compulsory contribution and its cost, but the gap the sponsors denounced was not closed — so much so that the issue came back to the table.
04.03.2018 Date of the vote | 42.4% Yes (rejected) | 55.7% Turnout | ~350m Annual cost avoided (est.) |
Voting on teeth means voting on the shifting line between solidarity and individual responsibility. In 2018 Vaud voters set the cursor on the wallet side: 57.6% no, despite a united left and an inventive health minister.
Cost weighed more than compassion. The 350-million argument and the talk of a patronal 'peculiarity' landed in a canton fond of social progress but not always of the bills that come with it.
Yet the problem did not vanish with the ballot. Without insurance the gap remains; targeted aid was rejected in 2023 and the issue set off again with a new initiative in 2025. Vaud's teeth have not finished sending people to the polls.