Primary plus health centers

The health care market in the Netherlands is constantly evolving. The sector is exposed to several developments like a growing demand for health care, changing legislation, market forces, but mainly rising costs. The health care costs in the Netherlands have risen from 7.5 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1972 to 14.1 percent in 2015. In other words, an increasing part of the Dutch economy is spent on health care. The estimates for development of the health costs show a continued increase of the costs for the coming decades. The largest debit entry within the total health costs is the curative health care, which was responsible for almost 60 percent of the total costs in 2014. The health care provided by medical specialists occupied by far the largest part of the budget for the curative care with a share of 56 percent. The care delivered by general practitioners and other primary health professionals was responsible for only 7 percent of the budget, while this health care is accountable for approximately 90 percent of the total demand for health care.