Cabinet allocates €675 mil. to increase healthcare salaries

The caretaker cabinet is making money available to increase salaries in the care sector after all. This concerns a structural extra 675 million euros, reported the Ministry of Health. As a result, middle incomes in healthcare will receive a 1.5 percent increase. Approximately 60 percent of healthcare workers will benefit from this extra money.

To pay for this measure, the health insurance premium will increase by 13 euros annually. The healthcare allowance will also increase by 13 euros, so that people who receive the allowance do not have to pay extra

A motion by the SP and ChristenUnie called on the cabinet to pay for the salary increase by raising corporate tax. The cabinet decided against this because, according to caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte, it is not possible from a tax technical point of view. The measure is also partly funded by increasing the income-related contribution. Employers, pensioners and self-employed will pay 0.05 percent more for this.

The cabinet did not previously respond to calls from parliament for higher salaries in healthcare. Last week, a motion by SP and ChristenUnie was adopted which called on the cabinet to release at least 600 million euros for healthcare salaries. The government decided to agree.

A motion by Geert Wilders to increase healthcare salaries was passed last year after a "mistake" by a parliamentarian from coalition party ChristenUnie. Stieneke van der Graaf said she accidentally voted for the motion, pushing it to a majority. After that, the cabinet decided not to implement the motion.