On 12 October 2026, the Minister for Health, Welfare and Sport and the Minister for Long-Term Care, Welfare and Youth sent a parliamentary letter in which they set out the policy agenda for appropriate care in greater detail (the Parliamentary Letter). The government considers additional government steering necessary to safeguard the accessibility, affordability and long-term sustainability of care. For this reason, a package of measures has been announced designed to ensure that ‘appropriate care’ becomes the definitive standard within the Dutch healthcare system.

The policy agenda builds on earlier developments, such as the Integral Care Agreement (IZA) and the Supplementary Care and Welfare Agreement (AZWA). According to the government, a broad consensus has now emerged on the need for appropriate care, and it aims, through these announced measures, to create the necessary framework conditions so that stakeholders can jointly achieve a future-proof care landscape.

The ultimate aim is a healthcare system in which not only the individual interests of the patient take centre stage, but in which societal interests – such as staff shortages, the affordability of care and the future sustainability of healthcare provision – are also explicitly taken into account. The government emphasises that decisions regarding available care can no longer be made solely from the individual’s perspective.

In this article, we discuss some elements of the announced package of measures.

What do the announced measures mean for healthcare providers and health insurers? 

The announced measures point towards a healthcare system in which appropriate care becomes more firmly established as the standard, with accessibility, affordability, and the sustainability of healthcare provision taking centre stage. The proposed measures may have implications for both health insurers and healthcare providers, for example in relation to contracting practices and the enforcement of insurers' statutory duty of care. Patients may also experience the effects of these measures, including in the delivery of care, the handling of complaints, and access to non-contracted healthcare providers. The precise legal and practical implications are not yet clear, as various measures will be further developed and assessed in the coming period. The government has announced that it will inform both the House of Representatives and the Senate in early 2027 of the legislative and regulatory amendments required to implement these measures.

We are monitoring these developments closely. If you have any questions about the implications of this Parliamentary Letter for your organisation, please do not hesitate to contact one of our advisers within the Life Sciences & Healthcare team.