“We are approaching the limits of solidarity,” says health economist Wim Grote. “It is important to prevent the emergence of intergenerational conflicts between older and younger people. On the one hand, older people who want more and more care, especially at public expense. On the other hand, young people who do not pay health insurance premiums because they no longer want to pay for the desires of older people.” (expensive).

Crooked eyes

Wim Grote says that the new government listened very carefully to the wishes of the elderly This video call With Seb Winia. You can also listen to the conversation. As a podcast.

“On average, care is used primarily in the later years of life. Young people are often more concerned with issues like climate or lack of housing. We have to be careful that it doesn’t seem surprising that older people are getting billions more through health care.

Politics of emotion

Wim Groot asserts that the Netherlands may already have the most extensive and comprehensive healthcare system in the world. England has a National Health Service, but the wealthy are dissatisfied with this and turn to private clinics and hospitals. In Germany, older people and their families must in principle arrange and/or pay for long-term care themselves.

However, there is a continuing desire – especially with a new government party such as the Party for Freedom – to expand the scope of collective care in the Netherlands. Grote says the new coalition cannot escape emotional politics. For example, the deductible will be reduced in a few years, but then the premium will increase. This, for example, is to the disadvantage of people with low income and little consumption of health care.

Lots of mental health and youth care

The fact that Dutch group healthcare is expensive – just under €6,000 on average per Dutch person per year – is due to the widespread availability of care and the fact that there are very few out-of-pocket payments. Compared to other countries, less is spent on hospitals and medicines in the Netherlands, but (a lot) is spent on mental health care, youth care and long-term care.

This is not because Dutch adults and children, as far as we know, have more mental problems than in other countries, but because – in the case of youth care – many children with more or less common problems also receive youth care (which means that cases of The real problem is narrowness.)

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