Dutch Government coalition finds alternative for controversial health insurance premium plan - by Thomas Whittle

Mark Rutte: "I made a mistake"

The new Dutch government of Liberals VVD and Labor PvdA has found an alternative for the controversial deal on an income-related health insurance premium in the coalition agreement, local media reported on Tuesday citing the two parties’ announcement.

By linking health premiums to income, the plan on income-related health insurance premium means people with an annual income of over 70,000 euros (90,615 U.S. dollars) will have to pay 482 euros per month in health insurance fees while people on welfare benefits will pay just 20 euros, Nos television reported.

The plan has provoked strong reactions from voters and members of the VVD, traditionally a party of people with higher incomes. They blame VVD leader Mark Rutte for being trapped by PvdA leader Diederik Samsom.

The income-related healthcare premium is now replaced by higher tax. The new deal will still hit people with higher incomes the hardest, but their purchasing power will drop less than in the old agreement.

“I made a mistake as a negotiator of the VVD,” Prime Minister Rutte said at a press conference on Monday evening.  “I offer my apologies. I considered it as my job to correct the mistake, and that’s what we did. We seek to reduce the income differences now in the atmosphere of the income tax, and no longer in the care premium,” he said.

Read more: Dutch coalition finds alternative for controversial health insurance premium plan - NZweek