.... but even if it does then don't go running to the Dutch health care insurance companies ....
As of January this year anyone with a basic health insurance policy is allowed to declare only 8 visits to an independent Psychiatrist or Psycho Therapist. Anyone with the maximum policy coverage gets an extra 4 visits, 12 in total. Ok math geniuses - yes - its one visit a month if you pay the maximum.
The independents are also only allowed now to submit one declaration per year. This had to be done for this year before the end of January this year. This means that independents have to wait a year before being paid, also meaning that they have to be financially strong enough to go a year without income.
Add to this the fact that the independents were told none of this beforehand, let alone patients, then this becomes one more nail in the coffin of state subsidised health care in the Netherlands.
Most Gay men use the independent Psychologists and Psychiatrists as most of the Gay ones are independents, unable to or unwilling to work in the large psychiatric institutions. In Amsterdam for example, the greatest contributions to Gay Mental Health over the years has been by Independent Psych workers.
A Psychiatrist told me today that at least 30% of all independents had stopped working since January this year, unable to meet the financial demands.
Is this what we want for the Netherlands?
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