Ten years ago, the health insurance fund was abolished and health insurance was introduced. Since then, many things have changed, both positive and negative. What do you think, have we made progress?
Numerous health insurance funds were established in the Netherlands at the end of the 18th and the beginning of the 19th century. The health insurance fund was intended to insure care for people with a low income or on benefits. Higher income groups (from 33,000 euros in 2005) were not eligible for the health insurance fund, they could take out private health insurance. The fund had both pros and cons.
Advantages
– people with a low income did not avoid healthcare because it was affordable
– the health insurance fund was accessible
– the care package that people received was fairly extensive
Cons
– for doctors it was more profitable to treat people with private health insurance earlier and sometimes ‘better’, because the reimbursement doctors received for this group was higher than that for health insurance patients
– there were considerable waiting lists
– health expenditure became uncontrollable due to the aging population and other cost increases
Switch to health insurance
In 2006 we said goodbye to the health insurance fund and a compulsory basic insurance was introduced, which is the same for everyone. People can extend their basic cover with one or more supplementary insurance policies. The idea behind the current system is that health insurers compete with each other on price. Not only to keep the premium as low as possible, but also the total healthcare costs.
What do you think?
Was the switch to compulsory basic insurance with a deductible/contribution a good choice? Our position is: ‘we have to go back to the health insurance fund’. Cast your vote at the top left of this page and leave a comment below.
Source: Zorgwijzer
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