At the end of May, the then Minister for Zorg Fleur Agema (PVV) interviewed With TV program Buitenhof. Whether she could guarantee that the deductible in healthcare would indeed fall from 2027 from 385 to 165 euros, as promised in the coalition agreement. She was able to say that, Agema said. “I am steaming with reducing the deductible.”
A week and a half later the cabinet fell. All PVV ministers, including Agema, got out. But that did not affect the self -insurplan, her temporary successor Eddy van Hijum (NSC) said immediately. That would just continue.
NSC has also left the cabinet. And again that does not seem to have an influence on the self -insurplan. Behind the scenes of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport it is still being worked on, now for outgoing care minister Jan Anthonie Bruijn (VVD). This year the proposal must be discussed in the Council of Ministers and sent to the Lower House – it will then be dealt with by the new Lower House, after the elections.
Even the VVD, which is still working on the halving plan in the outgoing cabinet, is against the new program.
But appearances are deceiving. The question is what will end up from the plan after the elections on October 29. The idea mainly came from the pub of the PVV. He states that the deductible ensures that people for financial reasons refrain from care and that chronically ill, who fully draw up their deductible every year, are the victims.
Party leader Geert Wilders made it a big point of it almost two years ago in the SBS6 election debate. GroenLinks-PvdA leader Frans Timmermans promised to abolish the deductible step by step in that debate, but Wilders thought so too late. He promised to do it immediately if he came to power. The deductible indeed ended up in the coalition agreement of the Cabinet Schoof with PVV, VVD, NSC and BBB. Not the complete abolition, but a large halving.
To wind back
But in the meantime the power position of the PVV has changed dramatically. Although the party is still high in the polls, the chance of a new government participation is small now that most other parties have excluded the PVV. And many other parties see nothing at all in the PVV-Strakaardje. For example, the CDA writes in its election program: “We reverse the reduction in the deductible, because it only makes the premium more expensive.” And D66: “A general halving sounds good, but leads to longer waiting lists and higher premiums. And people have to cough up that themselves.” Parties such as JA21, ChristenUnie, SGP, Volt and NSC are also opponent.
Even the VVD, which is still working on the halving plan in the outgoing cabinet, is against the new election program. In fact, the party even wants to “look at whether a further increase in the deductible is needed to keep the premiums affordable (…).” Like D66 and ChristenUnie, VVD is still thinking of a reduction in the deductible for the chronically ill and people with disabilities – although a clear definition of that group is difficult.
Unfocused measure
The criticism of the parties is in line with the advice of the Council of State, just before the summer. Those concluded That the measure is ‘unfocused’ and has a number of disadvantages and negative effects. For example, the reduction in the deductible leads to an increase in the health insurance premium by around 200 euros per year per insured person. Certain vulnerable groups also deteriorate financially. In addition, the demand for care increases and therefore also the healthcare costs.
In order to have people left extra money, the Schoof cabinet wanted to reduce the first disk of income tax. But that advantage ends up with all taxpayers, not just with lower incomes. In fact, the lowest incomes are probably not helped with this because they pay hardly any income tax. The total costs of halving the deductible are estimated at around 4.6 billion euros per year.
The PVV now only finds supporters in the SP, Party for the Animals, DENK, FVD and GroenLinks-PvdA
When the current care law was introduced in 2006, it was emphatically also the intention of having citizens to contribute something of their own healthcare costs. In this way people would remain aware of the fact that care costs money. It also had to slow down the demand for care.
The PVV now only finds supporters in the SP, Party for the Animals, DENK, FVD and GroenLinks-PvdA to lower the deductible or to disappear (step by step). BBB is the only party to report nothing about the subject in its election program, but was still “a strong reduction” and “if possible” two years ago.
Another plan that then initiated Minister Agema at the same time as halving the deductible, cutting the deductible in ‘pieces’ seems to be more likely. Insured persons then still pay a maximum of 50 euros per treatment, so that they do not immediately lose their own risk, but at the same time think better whether they will visit a specialist again that year. That idea was already in the coalition agreement of the Rutte IV cabinet (then it was about 150 euros per treatment). CDA, VVD, D66 and NSC argue for that in the new election programs.
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Halfing deductible mainly leads to higher care premiums
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