As talks continue with the federal health minister regarding the plan to cap the supplementary fees for medical specialists, the sector has decided to strike on Monday, 7 July
Unions representing doctors and dentists in Belgium have announced that the 7 July strike earlier announced will definitely go forward, despite meetings with federal health minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit). Medical specialists in particular are angry about the minister’s planned reforms to health care costs.
Vandenbroucke announced early this month that he was planning a reform of health care costs. The minister’s ultimate goal is to get more doctors to be what is referred to in Belgium as geconventioneerd / conventionné. This means that they adhere to the fee schedule set by the federal health agency Riziv.
The right care should not depend on the size of your wallet
Health minister Frank Vandenbroucke
Doctors, and in particular specialists – such as cardiologists, optometrists, orthodontists and many surgeons – do not adhere to the fee schedule, charging extra supplements to these prices. These supplements are not paid back to the patient by the mutualities.
Vandenbroucke wants to get more medical specialists to adhere to the fees as well as to legislate a cap on the amount of each supplement for those who don’t. The plan also includes measures to crack down on doctors who make misuse of the insurance system and to speed up the digitalisation of the health care system.
“This reform is another important step in our fight against supplements and for affordable care,” said Vandenbroucke earlier this month. “The right care should not depend on the size of your wallet or suddenly become many times more expensive because you are in a single room in a hospital.”
The announcement of the plan has drawn sharp criticism doctors and the unions and associations that represent them. They ask that the standard charges be increased before a ceiling on supplements is set and that many specialists contribute a portion of their fees to the hospital with which they are affiliated.
No interruption to emergency rooms
The plan will not take effect until 2028, and, following a sixth meeting yesterday between the minister and healthcare stakeholders, that there was still plenty of time to adapt the specifics. Still unions announced that they would go ahead with the strike.
“The minister summarized a series of points he wants to continue discussing,” said doctors’ union BVAS-ABSyM, “but with no guarantee that this preliminary plan will be adapted in any way.”
It is unclear what effect the strike will have on the healthcare system as a whole. Hospitals confirmed that all critical care will be operating normally. Anyone with a medical procedure planned for 7 July is asked to confirm the appointment with their care provider.