Netherlands

In March 2020, the Dutch Healthcare Institute advised the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport to simplify the reimbursement to diabetes care aids. In accordance with this advice, the Real-Time Continuous Glucose Monitoring (RT-CGM) and ketone test strips will no longer fall under specialist medical care (MSZ) but will be covered by medical aid care (HMZ). The new scheme is intended to take effect on 1 January 2021.

On June 18, 2020, the Dutch Healthcare Institute (Zorginstituut Nederland, ZIN) announced four medical procedures which received a subsidy under the new innovative payment scheme: FFRct technique in the diagnosis of patients with chest pain; oral esketamine in patients with severe, non-psychotic, treatment-resistant depression; left atrial appendage closure in patients with atrial fibrillation and endolymphatic duct blockage in patients with uncontrollable Meniere's disease.

Since 2020 the use of Prostatic Urethral Lift will be covered by basic health insurance under specific clinical indications.

New codes for Prostatic Urethral Lift system, CT and MRI examination of the neck, fecal microbiota transplant, testicular sperm extraction, implantable rechargeable and a non-rechargeable pulse generator for deep brain stimulation, as well as PET-CT myocardial perfusion with volume, ejection fraction and flow measurements and molecular diagnostics, were implemented in 2020.

On April 1, 2020, Minister of Health, Welfare, and Sport decided to secure a total of €42 million for studying the most urgent corona-related issues. It is estimated that these additional funds will enable 80 - 100 evaluations to be carried out. The Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the Dutch Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMW) will work together on the research programs.

The “Subsidy for promising care” scheme makes it possible to obtain temporary financing for care that looks promising but is not yet reimbursed from the basic health insurance package. The deadline to apply for funding via this scheme is April 7, 2020.

Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) has released key features of the DRG package for 2021, including complex chronic lung failure, stem cell transplant care, indexation of DRG tariffs, and position about reimbursment of MammaPrint test.

In October 2019, an extra subsidy round for Evaluation Research was opened on behalf of the Evaluation and appropriate use of care (Zorgevaluatie en Gepast Gebruik, ZE&GG) for diagnostics and follow-up/aftercare within both medical and nursing care. The submission deadline is on the 28th of November 2019.

At the beginning of August 2019, the Dutch Healthcare Institute (Zorginstituut Nederland, ZIN) has published an Overview of the applications of healthcare products and activities for conditional entry into the Basic Insurance Package. Two applications for heated intraperitoneal chemotherapy in ovarian cancer and GAG therapy in bladder pain syndrome were considered.

Zorg van Nu information team published a brochure with regulations for stimulating digital care in the Netherlands. The brochure with the description of 16 schemes clearly explains which regulations are applicable for which e-health innovations.

Predictive Analysis for Therapy (PATH) is a major collaborative project to optimize molecular predictive diagnostics in the Netherlands. The project focuses on the molecular analyses that are important for the treatment choice of cancer patients.

On the 11th of June 2019, the Dutch National Healthcare Institute (Zorginstituut Nederland, ZIN) has published a position regarding the positively assessed indications and the appropriate protocols for Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) that have been included in the basic package since 2009 in order to promote the appropriate use of this care. Health insurers can include this information and the quality criteria of the protocols when purchasing HBOT.