Health minister Edith Schippers has warned that if she has to lower the fee patients must now pay to visit a psychiatrist, she will have to find cuts elsewhere in the health budget.

Finding extra cuts would be ‘exceptionally difficult in the current economic situation’, the minister told parliament in a briefing on Monday evening, reports Trouw.
According to initial reports, the number of people asking for psychiatric help has dropped by up to 25% following the introduction of the fee on January 1.
Schippers was reacting to a comment by junior justice minister Fred Teeven last week, who said the high fee for psychiatric treatment could result in more people ending up in the justice system.