Health insurance companies are paying for treatment their clients have not had on a massive scale, the Telegraaf reports on Thursday.

Many hospital bills appear to have been ‘summoned up out of thin air’ or are so complicated it is almost impossible not to make a mistake, the paper says.
Patient’ organisations and the health insurers’ umbrella group Zorgverzekeraars Nederland acknowledge the problem, the paper says.
In 2010, health insurers identified mistakes in bills totalling more than €1bn, but the situation has worsened since then, meaning everyone pays more health insurance costs than necessary, the Telegraaf states.
In many cases, bills are sent directly to the health insurer, so patients are not aware what charges are being made in their name.
In November, a Maastricht University economist said around 5% of the bills sent out by doctors and hospitals involve double charging, earning them billions of euros in extra income.