‘It is absolutely undesirable for healthcare providers to misuse healthcare funds. The fact that some use vulnerable clients for this is reprehensible,” writes Minister De Jonge in a response to research by RTL Nieuws, which traced hundreds of dubious care providers.
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Money laundering and self-enrichment
The investigative editors of RTL Nieuws showed in October that it is easy for criminals to start a business in healthcare on the backs of vulnerable patients in order to become rich themselves. This concerns, for example, providers of home care and care for people with intellectual disabilities.
After an extensive data search, the research editors found 567 dubious healthcare providers across the country, where there is a high risk of money laundering, fraud and other forms of crime. Attention has been paid, among other things, to healthcare providers that make sky-high profits and whose owners also have a company with a high risk of money laundering, such as the catering and taxi industry.
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Municipalities have to get to work
Many municipalities do not conduct this type of extensive research themselves, according to a response from the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG). That needs to change, says de Jonge. ‘I think it is important that RTL Nieuws’s research is widely disseminated among the municipalities.’
Experts previously expressed concern about the lack of supervision at such healthcare companies. They believe that municipalities and care offices should monitor better who they allocate care money for vulnerable clients.
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Legislation
One of the problems that municipalities face is the sharing of information. This is often not possible due to privacy. For example, incriminating information cannot easily be shared between the police and municipalities.
De Jonge is preparing a bill to make it easier to exchange information in the event of signs of fraud.
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