An investigation from Pointer, Reporter Radio, and Follow the Money has revealed that 85 large healthcare companies have been seeing unusually high profits over the past two years.
2-3% profit rates are common in the healthcare sector, but the investigation has seen the 85 providers see profits of 10+%. In the data, which is public, the three platforms investigated the 1,308 largest of the 3,798 total healthcare institutions. Of these, 7 have seen 40% profits while 2 have seen a whopping 50% annual profit. “There is nothing wrong with profit in itself,” says Minister for Health, Welfare and Sport, Hugo de Jonge who continues, “Money for care is meant for care and must be only be spent on healthcare. Care is serving and not earning.”
The results of the investigation come just as the Dutch government has presented its new budget, which calls for a continued rise of health insurance premiums, calling into question where exactly the money is going. “The current law is not enough to keep the rotten apples out of the basket. So we will adjust that,” says de Jong.
