The issue of profit distribution by Dutch licensed healthcare institutions and possible alternative routes around the profit block have long been a subject of political discourse. Public debate has been revolving for a prolonged period of time around the question whether and to what extent healthcare companies are allowed to make a profit from the provision of care. In view thereof, our experts have written an article in this years third edition of the legal journal "Onderneming en Financiering" (Enterprise and Finance) about profit distribution in healthcare.
The article describes the history of the current legal prohibition on profit distribution and the categories of healthcare institutions exempted from it. Forms of permitted profit distribution by specific types of healthcare companies and commonly used and approved group structures (subcontracting) are also discussed, along with the influence of recent legislative changes (Wtza and WTZi), the recently introduced and in the sector well known 'empty shell' construct, and the positive effects of profit distribution.
Our experts question the legal sustainability of the current statutory prohibition on profit distribution and challenge the legal distinction between intramural and extramural care in relation to the prohibition and exempted categories of healthcare companies. To prevent unnecessarily contrived structures and to promote transparency, it seems logical to lift the statutory prohibition on profit distribution and regulate profit distribution exclusively for sub-sectors where excesses occur, provided that the conditions introduced for those sub-sectors (as announced in the Wibz draft legislative proposal) are necessary and demonstrably proportional.
Read the full article in Dutch.
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