Access to Healthcare in the Netherlands

Abstract

After the Second World War, the desire to equalize society became a deep drive of contemporary European culture, leading to social protection services. However that does not mean that inequalities are obsolete in European countries. One of the inequities that still persist today is inequality in healthcare. This chapter examines how inequity in access to healthcare became a nervous area in the Netherlands. We show how the recent reform in the Dutch healthcare system affected the use of healthcare services among socially disadvantaged groups in the Netherlands. In addition, we analyze how a local government attempts to reverse healthcare inequities. We show that nervousness might not only arise from an enduring history of inequality but may also arise from more recent societal developments leading to inequity, which are at odds with historical deeply engrained societal values of solidarity and justice. We also show that more data collection is needed to be able to observe possible hidden inequity.