A visit to the GP should not become more expensive, warned Luc Van Gorp, chair of Belgium’s largest health insurance fund CM, during a radio interview on Tuesday.
The federal government is considering raising co-payments as one way to address its budget deficit. However, Van Gorp has criticised this move as an unfair “hidden tax on the back of the most vulnerable.”
Over the weekend, N-VA party chair Valerie Van Peel reiterated her party’s goal to reduce the federal budget deficit to 3% of GDP by the end of this legislative term. She pointed to reducing government spending and reactivating long-term sick workers as key strategies, though she did not rule out introducing new taxes.
One of the proposals on the table is to increase co-payments for healthcare. Vice Prime Minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit) has previously advocated for this measure.
“It’s odd that, when billions need to be found, the focus turns to the most vulnerable people—those who are ill,” said Van Gorp. “Co-payments should not be used to fill the treasury, for instance, to cover defence costs.”
Instead, Van Gorp called for comprehensive reforms in the healthcare sector. He suggested tackling the overprescription of medication, noting that doctors have a responsibility to avoid prescribing drugs unnecessarily. He also highlighted that patients are sometimes encouraged to make avoidable doctor visits or undergo unnecessary medical imaging, which further drives up costs.
Additionally, Van Gorp pointed out that the price of a GP visit has not been indexed for the past decade.
