Family doctors are very unhappy about the contracts they are being asked to sign by health insurance companies and many feel they are being forced to accept them, according to research by the doctors’ association LHV.

Doctors have to sign contracts with health insurances to ensure their patients are covered for treatment. But many say insurance companies are unwilling to negotiate while others sign the deals because they feel they have no alternative, the survey found.

Three-quarters of doctors who tried to talk to insurers about the deal they are being offered said no real negotiation was possible.

‘Doctors want to offer the best possible care to their patients,’ said LHV chairwoman Ella Kalsbeek. ‘They want to be listened to and taken seriously and if that does not happen they feel powerless and angry.’