Health minister Edith Schippers is planning to reverse efforts to introduce more market forces into hospital services, the NRC reported on Monday.

The paper says the minister plans to keep hospitals to strict budgets until 2015 at least and impose price ceilings on treatments which had already been liberalised.
From 2015, the minister wants to introduce hospital funding on the basis of performance rather than a fixed amount per patient.
The paper bases its claims on an internal health ministry document. The move is notable because Schippers’ party, the free-market VVD, is a strong supporter of more competition in healthcare.
Healthcare costs are currently rising by 4% a year.