If the contracts are not concluded before January 1, the patient appears to be the victim. He or she may then have to pay the healthcare costs in advance when he is helped in the hospital. “That varies from a few hundred to thousands of euros and that is serious money,” says Paul van der Wijk, chairman of the board of the Wilhelmina Hospital Assen (WZA). The question is whether he will get the full amount back from his insurer. That has everything to do with the contracts that are concluded.
Hospital budget reduction
A few weeks ago, Van der Wijk was angry about those health insurers and the impending impasse. If the WZA agrees to the conditions of the insurers, the hospital will have nine million euros less to spend in 2022. Then there is a budget reduction of about seven percent, while the hospital is struggling with corona care, catch-up care and tired employees.
“Health insurers are aiming for zero growth in healthcare costs. Their price index is calculated for a situation without Covid,” says the chairman of the board. “While we have to scale up covid care and scale down regular care. The bill is placed with care in this way.”
Van der Wijk says he has no idea yet whether the hospital will soon find a solution with the health insurers. “We are still in talks and compared to a few weeks ago we have made a few small steps. But I can’t imagine that in the current situation, in which health care employees are absent and there is a high level of absenteeism, we cannot resolve it.”
Hospitals waiting for corona support
There is talk nationally about compensation for hospitals because of corona. This could help in negotiations between health insurers and hospitals.
They are also waiting for this at Treant Zorggroep, with hospitals in Emmen, Hoogeveen and Stadskanaal. Negotiations with health insurers are also difficult there. “We find it incomprehensible that the government has not yet established a national scheme for hospitals for the coming year to absorb the financial consequences of the corona crisis. The costs of corona care are so high and so unpredictable that they cannot be borne by an individual hospital. without getting into financial problems,” says Ron Akkerman, member of the board of directors at Treant. This so-called continuity contribution did exist in 2020 and 2021.
“There is a lot of uncertainty. A lot is asked of our healthcare professionals. Everyone really does the utmost,” Akkerman continues. “That is why I find it bizarre that there is no national regulation for the time being and that we as a hospital organization have to meet with each health insurer individually. This places the financial risk entirely with the care providers, there is no level playing field and the uncertainty only increases. .”
“Healthcare makes every effort to provide corona care. This is at the expense of regular care. In a few weeks the new year will start and everyone can see that we will still provide plenty of corona care. If insurers do not take their responsibility quickly , our patients and employees are left out in the cold.”
No contracts with Isala yet
Isala, which includes the Diaconessenhuis in Meppel, also has RTV East no healthcare contracts yet. “We are concerned about the pace, commitment and thus progress of the negotiations. We do not expect to reach a satisfactory result with some insurers in the short term,” said a spokesperson.
What’s the problem?
Every year, health insurers and hospitals have to renegotiate health care contracts. In addition, health insurers want high quality for a low price, so that health care premiums do not have to rise too much and they have more money to spend. Hospitals, on the other hand, want to provide good care for a decent rate. This leads to tough negotiations involving millions.
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