Nearly hundred Dutch healthcare companies make unusual high profits. As a result, directors are able to earn millions. However, it is possible that certain profits are made illegally.
In total, the 2017-annual accounts of almost two thousand large healthcare institutions were examined. For 174 companies, profits of at least 10 percent are recorded, while profit percentages of 2 to 3 percent are common in this sector. In total, 97 companies in the healthcare sector earned more than 50 million euros, which, on average, represents twenty percent of total revenues.
The money comes from insurance premiums and public money. Jeroen Suijs, Professor Financial Accounting at Erasmus School of Economics and Harrie Verbon (Tilburg University) believes that the profits could have been made by sending invoices for care that was not provided, which may indicate fraud. According to the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) it is ‘socially undesirable’ that healthcare providers are able to make such profits.
The Healthcare and Youth Inspectorate (IGJ) and the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa) recently warned that it has become more difficult to trace financial flows in the healthcare landscape. Due to limited capacity, the NZa has to make choices about which healthcare provider they want to examine, which means that some healthcare providers will not be checked.
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Read the entire article of the Dutch newspaper NRC (26 June 2019) here.