Netherlands
The Dutch are committed to the belief that healthcare should be accessible to everybody. As a result,
the cost of healthcare is borne by everyone who lives here. To support this societal value, the
government has subsystems in place to manage the overall cost of the system.
People-centered care
By definition: Patient-centred care is about treating a person receiving healthcare with dignity and
respect and involving them in all decisions about their health. This type of care is also called 'personcentred care'. It is an approach that is linked to a person's healthcare rights.
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Netherlands residents are required to purchase health insurance
The health insurance is provided by private health insurers and tighthly regulated by the federal
government.
 The government provides larger subsidies to insurers for participants who are sicker elderly or
have existing conditions.
 Legally required standard benefits for insurance in the netherlands include general practitioners,
practioners, hospitals, maternal care, lab tests and medicines. Insurers offer a choice of policies
at a ranger of costs. In some of the plans, the insurer negotiates and contracts with health
provider, while more costly plands allowe patients to choose their heallth provider and be
reimburese by the insurer.
 People under 18 are insured at no cost. Patients can choose among the availble insurers
 Netherlanss has a strong system of high quality general practitioners as a success in helping to
keep costs down.
 It does provide access for everybody and it does not leave people out of the system. It has a
large degree of choice for consumers
 Netherlands has a separete universal national social insurance program for long term care
known as AWBZ or Exceptional Medical Expenses Act
Who Can Access the Healthcare System in the Netherlands?
All residents and visitors to the country can access the Dutch healthcare system, pending they have
insurance. For Dutch residents, there a mandatory requirement for basic public health insurance Those
exempt from Zvw are:
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Children (under 18) covered by parent/guardian insurance policy
Temporary visitors from the EU/EEA/Switzerland, who can receive healthcare coverage through
their European Health Insurance Card
Temporary visitors from outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland who need to purchase private health
insurance
Those with conscientious objections to health insurance, who can apply for an exemption from
the Social Insurance Bank (SVB).
curative care
 Reform in 2006:
 establishing a regulated market system.
 Primary Objective: increase efficiency and quality with regulated competition and individual
choice of citizens/patients
 Characteristics:
 Health insurance mandate for Essential Health Benefits (99.9%)
 Additional coverage (84%)
 Paid via premiums/deductibles (50%) and income dependent taxes (50%)
Long term care
 Reform in 2015: major shift from residential to non-residential care
 Objective: to limit expenditure growth in safeguarding fiscal sustainability and stimulate clientcenteredness
 Characteristics
 Largely publicly funded
 Individual/social responsibility via informal care
 Shift from residential to non-residential care (living longer at home)
 Decentralization of non-residential care through municipalities
primary health care
Health care can be divided in several ways: firstly in three different echelons; secondly in somatic
versus mental healthcare; and thirdly in "cure" (short term) versus "care" (long term). Home doctors
(huisartsen, comparable to general practitioners) form the largest part of the first echelon. Being
referred by a first echelon professional is frequently required for access to treatment by the second and
third echelons, or at least to qualify for insurance coverage for that treatment.
The most important choice made is that people don’t get to request services directly from a hospital
(expensive) unless they are in acute danger; everybody is registered with a general practitioner of their
choice (huisartsen). Your huisarts will help you decide what kind of care you need and where you can
get it. (One of the great things about the huisarts arrangement is that you can choose one literally in
your neighborhood). From there, there is an entire network of hospitals delivering secondary health
services.
Doctors and Specialists in the Netherlands
The huisarts are the first point of contact, even in emergency cases but don’t expect to leave the first
consultation with a prescription, as the philosophy behind the Dutch healthcare is generally noninterventionist. Knowing this, it is important to clearly communicate what you feel you need, especially
in regards to antibiotics or antidepressants.
Other important things to note about healthcare in the Netherlands are:
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It offers 24-hour coverage. In the event you call after hours, a voice message will lead you to the
proper on-call medical services.
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In order to visit a specialist, you MUST have a referral from your huisarts.
If you are pregnant, your GP will refer you to a midwife for most pre-natal care
A GP can perform standard gynaecological exams
For women over 30, cervical cancer checks are available every five years.
Women aged 50 to 75 can take part in the national breast cancer screening program
Insurance overs sexually transmitted infections
A GP can prescribe contraception
Organization and MaNAGEMENT:
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Ministry of Health Welfare and Sport: ambitions is to keep eveyone healthy as long as
possiblbe and to restore the sick to health as quickly as possiblke. It seeeks to suipport people
with aq physical or mental limitation and promote social participation.
Health care inspectorate (IGZ): monitors the quality safety and accessibility of healthcare. IGZ is
an impartial, expert organisation that also safeguard rigths of patients, it can impose
adminitstrative fines and penalties on care providers.
Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZA): monitors the conduct of care providers and insurance
companies
Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM): checks that companies that provide care comply
with the Competition Act.