The Cabinet is tightening the rules for certain healthcare and youth care providers to combat the misuse of healthcare funds and self-enrichment.
Minister Sterk (Long-term Care, Youth and Sport) is presenting an amendment to the bill on the Integrity of Business Operations for Healthcare and Youth Care Providers (Wibz), following approval by the Council of Ministers.
This amendment imposes stricter conditions on profit distributions and business operations.
All providers in insured healthcare and youth care may distribute profits provided strict conditions are met, and a maximum will apply to these profit distributions. The rules regarding business operations are being clarified. With this tightening, the Cabinet aims to prevent public funds from leaking into excessive profits or financial schemes, ensuring that every euro allocated to healthcare is used effectively while simultaneously maintaining the attractiveness of innovation and renewal in the healthcare sector.
By far the majority of healthcare and youth care providers work hard day in and day out to provide appropriate care for patients, young people, and other people who need care or support. At the same time, there are providers who misuse public funds to enrich themselves financially. That is unacceptable. We already announced measures earlier this month to tackle fraud in healthcare. But we are now going a step further, with stricter rules for the distribution of profits and clearer rules for running a healthcare company. There should be no place for unscrupulous providers or investors who are only out for huge profits.
Mirjam Sterk, Minister of Long-term Care, Youth and Sport
This Cabinet holds responsible entrepreneurship in healthcare and youth care in high regard. This refers to entrepreneurship that genuinely contributes to good, accessible, and affordable healthcare and youth care, now and in the future. Therefore, profit distribution may not exceed a maximum percentage of the invested capital. With this requirement, the Cabinet aims to provide clarity regarding an acceptable level of profit distribution in the healthcare sector. The Cabinet is commissioning further research into the level of the maximum percentage.
This tightening of the rules allows providers or investors to achieve a modest but sufficiently attractive return. At the same time, this makes the healthcare sector less attractive to unscrupulous providers and investors seeking excessive financial gain.
The cabinet is also ensuring that the same rules apply to all providers of youth care and insured care, regardless of the form of delivery. These providers are allowed to distribute profits, but a maximum will apply. Strict conditions must also be met.
Compliance with annual reporting requirements
The public annual report is a necessary instrument for the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) to verify whether a provider has distributed profits and complies with the conditions for distributing profits. It will be proposed that failure to comply with this obligation constitutes grounds for prohibiting profit distribution. In the event of repeated violations of this obligation, the admission permit may also be revoked.
Stricter and clearer rules for business operations
The Cabinet wants to make it easier to tackle undesirable financial structures, such as those used by some private equity firms in acquisitions. This will help prevent risks to the continuity of healthcare and youth care more effectively. Therefore, operational standards are being further clarified and tightened.
