Suppliers argue for better purchasing of medical aids

The sector endorses the results of the NZa Aids Care Monitor

More than 2.2 million people in the Netherlands use a medical device to alleviate as much as possible the obstacles they experience due to a physical disability. These aids enable people to work – despite physical limitations – to live independently at home for longer and to participate in society. This contributes to their quality of life and self-reliance.

By: Luc Knaven

The Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) recently published its Aids Care Monitor1. The NZa concludes that a further decline in medical aids will put pressure on the quality, availability and introduction of innovations. Minister Bruno Bruins has now informed the House of Representatives about the Monitor and provides recommendations in his letter2 regarding the purchase of medical aids.

The minister announces that the NZa will investigate whether health insurer contracts stimulate or hinder tailor-made solutions for the patient and the quality of care. In addition, the minister confirms that health insurers have pursued a strict purchasing policy on medical devices in recent years. So sharp that both health insurers and healthcare providers (suppliers) are currently warning that even more price pressure could also turn into a disadvantage. The minister therefore wants to continue discussing the balance between cost control and room for innovation and quality improvement in the Aids Administrative Consultation.

The FHI is pleased with the minister's conclusions and with the upcoming investigation by the NZa. Over the past ten years, health insurers' contracting policy has led to total expenditure on medical aids stabilizing and, in some cases, even declining sharply, as healthcare consumption increases. From the perspective of keeping the costs of care affordable, this is a positive development. However, in some areas the bottom now appears to have been reached. As a result, manufacturers are withdrawing from the Dutch market or giving the Netherlands a lower priority in inventory management and when rolling out innovations. The NZa indicates in its monitor that further pressure on the price of certain aids negatively affects quality, removes incentives for innovation or leads to a reduction in supply because manufacturers opt for other markets. The experiences of suppliers and signals from patients and prescribers that the trade organization FHI receives confirm this picture.

Urgency

The urgency is further reinforced by the fact that the NZa research is based on GIP figures3 up to 2016. After 2016, reimbursements for diabetes, incontinence and ostomy aids, among others, have fallen even further due to the purchasing policy of health insurers, leading to the aforementioned conclusions of the NZa. and the Minister are confirmed and strengthened more than ever. FHI urges health insurers to take these findings into account in the upcoming contracting rounds for medical device care and to achieve a normalization of reimbursements, or in other words a decrease in price pressure.

FHI is committed to guaranteeing the quality and affordability of medical aids and participates in the Administrative Consultation on Medical Aids4. FHI considers it important that the contracting of medical devices does not remain focused on the costs of products, but that in the short term the dialogue focuses on the benefits of device care. FHI and Zorgverzekeraars Nederland have already expressed their willingness to discuss this with each other in the short term. This should ultimately contribute to further improvement of healthcare purchasing with the right balance between quality, appropriateness, costs and feasibility for all involved.


(1) NZa Aids Care Monitor; https://puc.overheid.nl/nza/doc/PUC_269793_22/1/

(2) Letter to Parliament about the Aids Care Monitor; https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/kamerstukken/2019/04/18/kamerbrief-over-de-monitor-hulpmiddelenzorg

(3) GIP database; https://www.gipdatabank.nl

(4) Administrative Consultation Tools; https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/medische-hulpmiddelen/meer-maatwerk-bij-hulpmiddelen