A public–private analysis of the new Dutch health insurance system

Excerpt

The 1 January 2006 will go down in history as a date that marked a significant change in Dutch health insurance. After many years of political debate and several failed attempts to implement a major reform—lastly in the early 1990s—the government mobilised a parliamentary majority for its plan to implement a fundamental reconstruction of health insurance [1]. The new legislation (Zorgverzekeringswet) puts an end to the traditional dividing line between the statutory sickness fund scheme (Ziekenfondswet) that covered about 63% of the population and private health insurance, covering the remaining 37%. A single mandatory scheme covering the entire population replaces the dual arrangement that has been a characteristic element of health care financing in the Netherlands since the Second World War [2]. …