Junior health minister Marlies Veldhuijzen van Zanten on Thursday survived a motion of censure over her plans to slash spending on personal healthcare budgets after some opposition parties said this would go too far.

Last week, the government’s macro-economic planning bureau CPB said Veldhuijzen van Zanten’s plans would not generate the €900m savings she expects without reductions in standards of care.
The minister has always said people will still get the same level of care, but that it will be provided and paid for directly by health insurance companies and local authorities.
The minister now says she will ensure that there is compensation for people who need a lot of complex care. ‘If my intentions were not understood, then I am sorry,’ the minister told MPs.
Institutions
Reforms to the personal healthcare budget system mean 117,000 elderly and handicapped people will lose funding to buy in care services.
Only some 13,000 people who would otherwise be institutionalised will retain the right to choose and pay their own carers directly.
It is still not clear exactly what the changes will mean for people who currently have a budget to buy help which suits them, rather than rely on home care organisations.