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| Zorgverzekering System Could Lead to Increased Risk for the Insured Docucorp International cites research indicating that the new Zorgverzekering system could lead to increased risk for the insured. "Dutch legislators, insurers and health providers need to guard against a drastic rise in the cost of health insurance", said Blayne Lequeux, vice president and practice leader of Docucorp's business process outsourcing. While American health care is recognised worldwide as the leader in quality health services and attracts patients from around the globe, it comes at a high cost. Statistics show that insurance premiums have risen astronomically every year for the last 15 years. Within the last year alone, the average annual cost of an employer-provided policy rose 7.7 percent to $4,242 for individuals and $11,480 for a family. In addition, the U.S. health care system provides for more than 40 million uninsured U.S. citizens and illegal immigrants. This, too, adds to the cost of personal health insurance plans. At present, there are many similarities between the U.S. health care models and the ones found in the Netherlands. Models such as gate keeping, HMOs and budget responsibility mirror Dutch heath care plans such as huisartsmodel, ambulante, behandelingsmodel and tussenpersonen. Plans such as these have evolved in an effort to control costs. "At first these models seem interesting", said Lequeux. "But in the end, more and more lobbyist, intermediaries (tussenpersonen) and regulators get between the insurer and the health provider. These bodies need to make money too." Although U.S. health care faces many challenges, most Dutch insurers feel that it can serve as a role model for the new Dutch health insurance system. In the Netherlands, one major group of health insurers has announced the formation of the first intermediary organisation with the mission of collective purchasing of health care services for the health insurance companies in their own group. "Practices like this make the purchase price for care more attractive for the insurers", said Lequeux. "But these service groups need to be financed as well. In the United States, special regulations have been put in place in order to limit the increase of costs for middlemen. The Dutch have the opportunity to learn from rising costs in the United States and utilize the parts of the American health care system that benefit the patient in terms of both cost and quality." Blayne Lequeux recently spoke at a breakfast briefing in the Netherlands. The briefing explored how new regulation is defining the health care market and highlighted key comparisons between the U.S. and Dutch health care systems. Peter Ruys, DGN Publishers, also presented at the meeting. Docucorp's health care services solutions enable HMOs, PPOs, TPAs and insurance carriers to reduce the time and costs associated with composing, managing, printing and distributing health care provider data, while ensuring required regulatory compliance and thus helping to control the spiralling cost of health care premiums. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Computing News :: home page |