The Dutch "Subsidy Scheme for Promising Care" will be discontinued in January 2026

The so-called “Subsidy Scheme for Promising Care” was implemented in 2019 to support the development of missing clinical and economic evidence for promising care, which otherwise cannot be covered within basic health insurance. Evidence developed in the program should support a positive assessment by the Dutch Healthcare Institute (ZIN) in the future and coverage within Basic Health Insurance. The Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport allocated about €69 million annually for the scheme. The scheme was administered by the ZIN and the Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw).

There are currently 28 ongoing projects. The last 2025 rounds of application submissions have been closed. One project was awarded in the first round for 2025. The decision on approved projects for the second round of the scheme in 2025 will be published by September 25, 2025. A maximum of €39 million has been available for the projects awarded in 2025.

In October 2024, the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport decided to stop the subsidy scheme. However, ZIN consulted with the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport to continue stimulating research into the cost-effectiveness of promising care that is not yet reimbursed under the basic health insurance package from public funds.

In May 2025, the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport provided more details about the termination of the subsidy scheme and announced that the program would be discontinued as of January 1, 2026, without any follow-up measures or financing. No new rounds for submission of proposals will be available. Nothing will change for the ongoing research. The Ministry points out that there are other subsidy programs in which research is conducted into the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of care, such as the Efficiency Research program of the Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMW) and the soon-to-be-launched Appropriate Care framework program.

See more information in Dutch here.

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