Market forces do cut hospital costs: NZA

Monday 01 March 2010

Competition between hospitals does cut healthcare costs and can be stepped up, the national heathcare association NZA has told health minister Ab Klink, the Volkskrant reports on Monday.

The recommendations, which are still confidential, relate to plans already agreed in January to allow hospitals to decide more of their own prices.

At the moment, hospital fees for some two-thirds of treatments are determined by the government and those charges have gone up 2.9% over the past three years. But in those areas where hospitals are free to set their own prices, the rise has only been 1.5%, the NZA says.

In January, MPs agreed that hospitals would be able to determine their own fees for 50% of all forms of treatment from next year.

It is not yet clear what the status of the January decision is since the collapse of the government. Labour leader Wouter Bos said last week he regards the introduction of more market forces into healthcare as unacceptable.

© DutchNews.nl

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