Check medical bills for overcharging, insurers urge

Heath insurers have urged their clients to double check their medical bills after a visit to the hospital, after insurer CZ has reported over 400,000 cases of incorrectly invoices. That is double the amount of last year. CZ was reported by AD claiming that it is not fraud, but errors in the declaration software. NU reported possible double taxation.

Labor MP Lea Bouwmeester thinks that this is a very troubling conclusion, reported NU. She was also reported saying that, “People should be able to rely on good health care and a bill that’s true, especially if they are using the excess to help pay.”

Authorities are investigating ways of simplifying hospital bills, so they are easier for patients to understand. Currently bills use DBC codes (diagnosis treatment combination) that only give a brief description, and much research would have to be undertaken to see if the amounts are correct, as one patient reported to NU.

According Christine Rompa from Zilveren Kruis health insurers, it is the patient's responsibility to check the bills as they are the ones who know what treatment they actually received.

The Dutch Federation of Patients is in talks with health care insurers and hospitals with regards to the simplification of hospital bills that will be easier to understand.