Majority of parliament backs elimination of own risk health insurance deductible

Parliamentarians in the Tweede Kamer backed an initiative to force the Cabinet to put an end to mandatory health insurance deductibles, the portion of healthcare that people living in the Netherlands have to pay out of pocket. The amount, which is fixed at a minimum of 385 euros, is on top of the premiums paid for the basic health insurance package. The motion won support from a range of politicians from the left and right towards the end of a political debate on Wednesday night.

A total of 80 Members of Parliament voted for the measure, including the PVV. The far-right party, led by Geert Wilders, is the largest in the Tweede Kamer following a decisive election victory last month. They brought 37 votes to the table for the initiative from left-wing parties SP and PvdD.

Wilders said during the debate that he was in favor of pressing forward on cost of living issues during Cabinet formation talks with the VVD, NSC, and BBB. These are some of the most critical issues confronting people in the Netherlands, including changing or eliminating the health insurance deductible, Wilders said during the debate on the issue. Esther Ouwehand, the leader of the PvdD, expressed disbelief about this.

“[The VVD] have put everything up for sale, which means that people in the Netherlands are faced with a lack of housing, among other things. They have stripped healthcare, including care for the elderly. They have introduced the deductible. So I don’t really understand how we can reconcile that with you saying, ‘Yes, I want to govern, but preferably with the VVD.’ They actually caused everything that we now have to solve for people in the Netherlands,” Ouwehand said.

Jimmy Dijk, the new party leader for SP, introduced the motion, which stated that the health insurance “deductible is a reason for one in four people to avoid care.” The motion called for the immediate abolition of the own risk costs regarding healthcare, saying that the most affected residents of the Netherlands “cannot wait” for a lengthy Cabinet formation process to be completed before this issue is tackled.

By passing the motion, the Tweede Kamer called for the elimination of the health insurance deductible as soon as possible. The parties voting in favor of the measure include the PVV, with 37 MPs, GroenLinks-PvdA (25), BBB (7), SP (5), Denk (3), and PvdD (3). Those opposed include the VVD (24), NSC (20), D66 (9), CDA (5), FvD (3), SGP (3), ChristenUnie (3), Volt (2), Ja21 (1).

A majority was not in favor of forcing the measure to be included in the government’s Spring Memorandum. That update from the Minister of Finance is due no later than June 1, according to Dutch law. A separate motion to this regard no longer had the support of GroenLinks-PvdA.