The Medical Device Market: Netherlands

Additional Information

The Netherlands has a well developed, comparatively mature medical device market, which is valued at US$3.3 billion in 2012, equal to US$198 per capita.

The economic downturn, which resulted in a 3.5% contraction in the economy in 2009, has increased financial pressures on the health service with sizeable deficits recorded in 2009 and 2010.

The volume of routine elective surgery continues to increase albeit with strong downward pressure on costs. Independent treatment centres are continuing to increase their share of the market.

The centre-right minority coalition formed between the Liberal VVD party and the Christian Democratic CDA party after elections in June 2010 has collapsed following the withdrawal of support from the far-right Freedom Party, PVV. The collapse follows failure to reach agreement on implementation of an austerity programme, which aimed to cut government spending by 16 billion euros to lower the budget deficit to 3% of GDP in line with EU rules. New elections are due to take place on 12th September after the summer recess.

The Netherlands has a long history of providing accessible healthcare, although resources are comparatively low for a west European country. A mandatory health insurance scheme was introduced in January 2006. This replaced the previous two-tier system and provides basic health insurance cover for acute care services with a separate scheme for long term medical care.

The new health insurance act has substantially increased price competition amongst insurers and healthcare providers resulting in one of the most market-oriented healthcare systems in Europe.

Due to the nature and position of the Netherlands, it has been used as a ‘trading post’ for many years. For this reason, the value of imports and exports do not necessarily reflect the market movement.

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