Politicians react angrily to the patient stop that the Martini Hospital Groningen has announced for Zilveren Kruis insured people.
Minister Ernst Kuipers announced on Wednesday that he does not find it a problem. “Because emergency care continues as normal and people can go to the nearby area for other care,” he said in the House of Representatives. The ‘nearby area’ is Treant in Emmen, Stadskanaal or Hoogeveen.
According to health economists, it is mainly annoying but not a major disaster. “It is not a nice remedy, but the health insurer has to do something,” says health economist Xander Koolman of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
“It is not the first time this has happened and it always causes unrest. But legally there is nothing wrong as long as the insurer continues to fulfill the duty of care,” responds health economist Jochen Mierau of the University of Groningen.
The Martini Hospital announced this week that patients with Zilveren Kruis or ASR insurance will no longer be able to make a new appointment this year for much planned care. The hospital wanted an extra million euros for the treatments for the rest of this year and Zilveren Kruis refused. The insurer now mainly refers patients to the Treant Zorggroep in Emmen, Stadskanaal and Hoogeveen. It has shorter waiting lists and lower rates.
‘Madness, system is failing’
The Groningen MPs from the SP and GroenLinks-PvdA are quick to respond strongly to X. “The market causes bureaucracy, distrust and competition. Stop this madness, this system is failing,” says Jimmy Dijk of the SP. “This is how money takes precedence over health. Doctors, not accountants, should determine what care you need,” says Julian Bushoff of GroenLinks-PvdA.
Caroline van der Plas of BBB says in the House of Representatives that she is also concerned about it. Even Annemarie Heite, number 22 on the list of candidates for Pieter Omtzigt’s New Social Contract, immediately reacts negatively to the message. “Time for a new social contract,” she says.
We should not understand from this that the new party NSC immediately wants to abolish the entire healthcare system, just like the SP, responds medical sociologist and ‘healthcare candidate’ Danielle Jansen, number 14 on the NSC list. “Annemarie has not turned her heart into a murder pit, but we are still working on our election program and our positions on care.”
Every year in October
Patient stops like this are more common in the Netherlands. Seven years ago it was the insurer VGZ and the hospital in Drachten, two years ago it was various insurers and the hospitals in Twente.
“It actually starts every year in October,” notes healthcare economist Koolman. “It is simply the job of health insurers to reduce premiums and that is also in the interest of policyholders. If hospitals can charge whatever they want, healthcare costs will quickly increase.”
Koolman thus shows understanding. “But it’s not nice. Patients can go to another hospital because the insurer has a duty of care. But if large groups of patients have to move from their regular doctor to another doctor, that transition can be harmful to their health.”
Travel distance ‘can be harrowing’
The fact that the other hospital with which Zilveren Kruis has agreements, Treant, is an hour’s drive from Groningen is also not ideal, according to Koolman. “That can sometimes lead to distressing situations, especially for people who depend on public transport. In any case, it would be better if health insurers and hospitals were more transparent about their agreements with hospitals. The patient can then choose another health insurance policy that does not do this.”
Health economist Mierau sees this as “the last throes of competition”. Health insurers can now switch to other hospitals, but this will become more difficult with future waiting lists and staff shortages.
Minister Kuipers is working on a small change in the healthcare system with more regional agreements and less competition between hospitals in that region. That should reduce these types of patient stops.
Mierau: “The way forward is to work with regional multi-year agreements so that you can average out these kinds of peaks and valleys.”