Mental health experts have criticised government plans to stop people with an IQ of between 70 and 85 from claiming special help under the AWBZ care system, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday.

The government is planning to exclude people with a light mental handicap from sheltered housing or day care as part of its spending cuts. The aim of the measure is to save €250m a year.
‘This plan is the height of political stupidty,’ Amsterdam University professor Aryan van der Leij told the paper.
When the cuts are introduced, special help will be restricted to people with an IQ between 50 and 70. But experts say a low IQ does not necessarily mean a person needs more help.
Reliability
‘You can have an IQ of over 70 but need more help because you have debts or psychiatric problems,’ Radboud University professor Robert Didden told the paper.
IQ tests are also not always reliable, the paper pointed out.
Around one million people in the Netherlands are said to have an IQ of 70 to 85, and several hundred thousand of them need special help, Didden said.
Prior to 2005, AWBZ help was restricted to people with an IQ below 70.