Long-term care insurance in the Netherlands

Abstract

The Netherlands was the first country to introduce a universal mandatory social health insurance scheme (AWBZ) for covering a broad range of long-term care (LTC) services provided in a variety of care settings. Compared with most other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, coverage of LTC services is relatively comprehensive. This comprehensive coverage might explain why, in comparison with most other OECD countries, both total and public expenditure on LTC in the Netherlands are high, particularly since the percentage of elderly is similar to the OECD average (OECD, 2005). This can at least partly be explained by the relatively generous social health insurance scheme.