Belgium

In July 2024, the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI-RIZIV) approved a new agreement (Convention) allowing reimbursement for percutaneous CT-guided ablation of renal, hepatic, pulmonary, and bone tumors. The agreement will come into force on November 1, 2024, and will be valid until October 31, 2029.

On July 1, 2024, the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI/RIZIV) introduced a new agreement (Convention), which allows permanent reimbursement for molecular biology tests by next-generation sequencing (NGS) in oncology and hemato-oncology. The tests were reimbursed temporarily in the context of the pilot Convention from 2019. Fifty-one new pseudo-nomenclature codes with tariffs were introduced. The pseudocode descriptions specify the indication, while certain biomarkers and reimbursement conditions are mentioned as notes to the code.

On June 18, 2024, the Belgian National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI/RIZIV) updated the information about the status of the ongoing structural reform of the Nomenclature started in 2019. INAMI/RIZIV reported on activities already completed as of June 2024 and announced further steps.

On May 1, 2024, the Belgian National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI/RIZIV) updated several articles of the Nomenclature. New procedure codes were introduced in pulmonary, endoscopy, and in-vitro diagnostic fields.

In March 2024, the Belgian Health Care Knowledge Center (KCE) launched the development of two new Health Services Research reports concerning DRG-based lump-sum and indirect costs in hospital financing.

In Belgium, kidney dialysis is reimbursed under a specific agreement (Convention) between the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI-RIZIV) and chronic kidney failure centers starting in 2018. The current update of the Convention came into force on January 1, 2024, and is valid until December 31, 2026. Four new Pseudo-nomenclature codes for informing and training patients were added.

On January 15, 2024, the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI-RIZIV) released an updated DRG system for 2024. No significant changes were made aand no new APR-DRGs were added; thus. The reimbursement tariffs were increased by about 5%.

On December 1, 2023, the Belgian National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI/RIZIV) updated several articles of the Nomenclature. New procedure codes with reimbursement fees and associated conditions concerning cardiovascular, neurology, and obstetrics fields were added.

In November 2023, the Belgian National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI-RIZIV) announced the budget reduction for reimbursement of clinical laboratory services by 15% from January 2024. INAMI-RIZIV considers this reimbursement still sufficient and will reallocate released funds to other projects in health care. The reduction will not impact molecular biological and genetic testing.

In October 2023, the Belgian National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI-RIZIV) introduced an updated application procedure for the List of implants and invasive medical devices, including a new application form. The new form is organized according to the PICO (Population-Intervention-Comparator-Outcome) principle.

In late June 2023, the Belgian Health Care Knowledge Center (KCE) published a report on relevance of transversal budget impact analysis. This type of analysis should be submitted as part of the application to the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI-RIZIV) to obtain reimbursement for implants and invasive medical devices.

In July 2023, the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (INAMI-RIZIV) significantly updated the process to obtain reimbursement for health apps. More stakeholders, including the industry, can now submit an application to INAMI-RIZIV for temporary or permanent reimbursement. The new process will come into force on October 1, 2023.