Doctors fear health insurer will no longer cover all costs

GPs fear that due to a new policy from health insurer Zilveren Kruis they will no longer be able to pay the nurses' salaries in 2022, NOS reported. Zilveren Kruis will soon no longer reimburse costs indirectly related to the patients, particularly impacting the care of chronically ill patients.

Nurses play an essential role in contacting patients and organizing files. According to the new financial scheme by Zileveren Krise, these costs can longer be recovered. "The problem is that you are no longer allowed to declare important, time-consuming work, such as consultations," GP Rinkse van de Goor told NOS.

"Money will determine which care the GP can and cannot provide, which is a very unhealthy development," Luuk Elzinga from the National Association for GPs (LHV) said.

To make ends meet, nurses would have to see around 16 patients per day. "That can be dangerous. Minor illnesses might receive much attention, but difficult cases will not receive the care they need because the costs cannot be recovered," Van Goor said.

Zilveren Kruis said the change in their policy would not lead to a decline in the quality of care. A spokesperson told NOS that many GPs who were concerned about not being able to recover all their expenses had incorrectly filled in a cost estimation calculator on their website.

The health insurer said they would keep an eye on developments in the upcoming year.