The head of a small, independent health insurance company has become involved in a major spat with the health insurance association ZN, which he claims is trying to silence him.

Chris Oomen, director of the DSW insurance company, has been written to by the head of ZN and told to stop sounding off about the practices of the big four insurance companies, the Telegraaf reports.

The letter exchange took place this spring but has just been made public.

Oomen claims the big four insurance groups (Achmea, VGZ, CZ en Menzis) have too much power and are destroying the principles of solidarity on which the Dutch system is based.

After outlining his concerns in an open letter, Oomen received a letter from ZN chief André Rouvoet telling him to stop contradicting the official ZN position. Oomen told the Telegraaf on Monday they are ‘trying to silence a dissident’.

‘The aim of the health insurance legislation is to stimulate market forces, competition and lower costs,’ he told the paper. ‘90% of people are insured via the big four, who operate as a cartel.’

The big insurers, he said, want to get rid of the notion of free choice of doctors. ‘Healthcare providers who don’t have a contract [with an insurance company] are being squeezed out,’ he said. ‘Patients are being forced to go to a provider that they would not choose themselves.’

See also: Concern for patients is skin deep