Socialist party leader Emile Roemer is furious with liberal VVD leader Mark Rutte, accusing him of ‘bare-faced lies about healthcare’, according to the Algemeen Dagblad.

The cause of his fury was Rutte’s answer to a question during last Sunday’s party leaders debate. Roemer asked Rutte why his party was planning to raise the own-risk premium for healthcare. Rutte denied this was the case.
The SP leader says Rutte signed the austerity budget put together by five parties earlier this year. That budget states the own-risk premium will rise from €220 to €350 in 2013.
‘Rutte is lying about his healthcare plans,’ Roemer told the AD. ‘I haven’t seen him back away from the five-party agreement.’
Rebuttal
Rutte is standing by his comment that his party will not raise the own-risk premium, he told RTL4 on Tuesday morning.
The increase to €350 is already ‘standard policy’ and the government’s macro-economic policy unit CPB agrees, Rutte told the television programme. ‘So there is no question of a rise,’ he said.
The CPB issued its calculations on the effect of parties’ economic policies on the Dutch economy on Monday.
The VVD is planning a ‘uniform ruling’ for what people will themselves pay for in healthcare, but this should not be seen as part of the own-risk payment, Rutte said.