Cabinet pushing through with healthcare deductible hike to €455 despite lack of support

The Jetten I Cabinet is pushing ahead with its plan to increase the healthcare deductible to €455 next year, even though there is currently no majority support for it in either parliament or the Senate. The decision to implement the hike will be made shortly in the Council of Ministers, sources close to the government told Nieuwsuur.

Besides the coalition parties D66, VVD, and CDA, only JA21 supports increasing the healthcare deductible. In The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament, those four parties hold 75 of the 150 seats, one short of a majority. In the Eerste Kamer, the Dutch Senate, they only hold 24 of the 75 seats.

“This Cabinet is driving straight into a wall,” parliamentarian Julian Bushoff of PRO, formerly GL-PvdA, told the program. His party is the most likely candidate to help the Cabinet secure a majority. “We are not going to support an increase in the deductible.”

The BBB, which holds 11 seats in the Senate, is also against increasing the deductible. “You shouldn’t create barriers for people to use healthcare,” MP Femke Wiersma told Nieuwsuur. “That actually leads to the postponement of important care, causing costs to rise.”

By raising the healthcare deductible, the government hopes to save around €5 billion per year. There is a time limit on the hike. To implement it in January 2027, the Tweede Kamer must approve it by the summer. “It is important we get this done, because otherwise there will be a hole in the budget,” CDA leader Henri Bontenbal warned.

The Cabinet also wants to introduce a deductible limit of €150 per treatment, so that people don’t have to pay the full deductible in one go. There is more support for this plan in parliament. “But I don’t want that measure to be linked to the increase in the deductible. We are against that,” ChristenUnie MP Mirjam Bikker said.

And with that, another important coalition plan is on the brink of derailment. The Eerste Kamer recently shot down the Cabinet’s plan to raise the state pension age.

As a minority government, the coalition parties D66, VVD, and CDA always need support from the opposition to get their proposals through parliament and the Senate. PRO MP Bushoff is concerned. “I feel the Cabinet has not yet chosen how they intend to secure a majority for their proposals.”