Health minister Edith Schippers is planning to give insurance companies more say in deciding how much government funding different hospitals should get, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Monday, quoting sources involved in the talks.

The minister is currently in talks with hospitals and insurance companies about a ‘big bang’ for hospital financing, the paper says.
Hospitals currently get the bulk of their funding from the government. Now the minister is planning to let insurance companies play a greater role in deciding which hospitals and clinics should be able to grow more quickly than others.
Open market

‘The previous minister wanted two [funding] locks on the door, one on the whole sector and one on each individual hospital. Schippers wants to get rid of that second lock,’ a source told the paper.
The paper says the news means private clinics in particular will be able to grow more quickly and hospitals which are considered to be failing will go bankrupt.
The government has already decided that from next year, hospitals will be given much more freedom to set their own prices. The minister hopes this will stimulate competition and innovation.