Since 2008, everyone has had a deductible in healthcare, this year that amount has risen to 350 euros. The aim is that people make less unnecessary use of healthcare. The downside of this may be that people avoid necessary care because of the cost.
The Municipality of Tilburg had received signals that the general practitioners saw their visitor numbers decrease. That is why they started a study to discover whether people indeed avoid healthcare because of the increased deductible.
Complaints, but not to the doctor
Despite health complaints, 15 percent of Tilburg residents did not use their GP in the first half of 2013, despite health problems. In most cases, people wanted to look at it for a while, because the complaints were not so bad. 4 percent of Tilburg residents have avoided healthcare for financial reasons. At 2 percent it is the deductible. Most people who avoided healthcare because of the deductible did so in 2012.
Refuse care
9 out of 11 participating GPs think that the number of patients who do not make use of a referral to secondary care has increased because of the deductible. 8 out of 12 pharmacies that took part in the survey confirm that some customers refuse medicines prescribed by their GP; they do not come to collect the medicines, or they decide not to buy the medicines at the cash register.
Do you go to the doctor less quickly because of the high deductible?
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