Contours of the Basic Health Care Benefit Package

As part of the planned reform of the health insurance system, the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport has requested the Health Council to ‘formulate an opinion with regard to the workable, scientifically based criteria for identifying which care services should be included in a basic package’. The Committee on Contours of the Basic Health Care Benefit Package gives an account of its findings in this advisory report. To begin with, it outlines the interpretation of governmental responsibility for public health and health care customarily adopted in the Netherlands. Then it examines the considerations that can play a role in decisions regarding the scope and composition of a so-called ‘basic package’. These include equal access, protection of individuals against themselves, and cost control. Partly on the basis of an international overview of analyses for decision-making on rationing issues, the Committee then specifies the criteria that are relevant when formulating a basic package and investigates the applicability of these criteria.

The Committee’s conclusions and recommendations can be summarized in a number of key points.

Committee

• JP Mackenbach, MD, PhD, Professor of Social Health Care; Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Chairman
• M Boers, MD, PhD, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, rheumatologist; Free University, Amsterdam
• I de Beaufort, PhD, Professor of Medical Ethics; Erasmus University, Rotterdam
• E Briët, MD, PhD, Professor of Internal Medicine, member of Board of Directors; University Medical Centre, Amsterdam
• HJM Cools, MD, PhD, Professor of Nursing-Home Medicine; University of Leiden
• R van Dyck, MD, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry; Free University, Amsterdam
• GA den Hartogh, PhD, Professor of Philosophy; University of Amsterdam
• ALM Lagro-Janssen, MD, PhD, Professor of Family Medicine/Women's Studies; Catholic University of Nijmegen
• J Ormel, PhD, Professor of Social Psychiatry; University Hospital of Groningen
• E van der Veen, MSc, Chairman of the Board of Directors; AGIS Group, Utrecht
• AHJ Veneman, MD, Corporate health adviser; AKZO-Nobel, Arnhem
• WPMM van de Ven, PhD, Professor of Social Health Insurance; Erasmus University, Rotterdam
• SP Verloove-Vanhorick, MD, PhD, Professor of Preventive and Curative Health Care for Children; University of Leiden
• EA Bolhuis, MSc, Director, MEVA Directorate; Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, The Hague, adviser
• GGJ Klein Ikkink, MSc, Director, Projectbureau Toekomst Zorgstelsel, MEVA Directorate; Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, The Hagu, adviser
• A Boer, MD, PhD, Deputy Director, Health Care; Health Care Insurance Board (CVZ), Amstelveen, adviser
• GHM ten Velden, MD, PhD, Health Council of the Netherlands, The Hague, secretary