Health minister Edith Schippers hopes to increase competition between healthcare providers and give hospitals the right to set nearly all of their own prices, as part of a shake-up of healthcare provision.

In addition, the minister plans to look for other sources of income for hospitals so they do not have to rely on the banks to borrow money, the Volkskrant reports.
The minister’s plans are outlined in a letter to MPs, who will debate the new strategy next week. The aim of the proposals is to make the health service ‘21st century-proof’, the minister said.
However, it is unclear how much support for the plans there is in parliament. The populist PVV, which has an alliance with the minority cabinet in terms of economic policy, opposes the idea of injecting more competition in healthcare.