Health insurance companies in Belgium have received dozens of complaints about hospitals deliberately scheduling scans outside office hours so they can charge supplements.
In December last year, Federal Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke (Vooruit) decided to ban supplements for heavy medical imaging, as they are not reimbursed – which can significantly increase the cost price for patients.
However, hospitals are still allowed to charge supplements if the scan is taken outside office hours and is not medically urgent. This loophole has led to hospitals scheduling scans outside office hours, often under the pretext that patients would otherwise have to wait a long time for their scan.
Both the socialist health insurance fund Solidaris and the Christian Mutualities received dozens of complaints about this. They sent a letter to the hospitals together with all the health insurance funds to draw their attention to the new legislation.
'World upside down'
"In our opinion, this legislation is not being uniformly respected by all hospitals," said CM director Luc Van Gorp. With the letter, the health insurance funds attached a template that the doctor can fill in together with the patient to properly inform them about all care options.
The issue has also come to Vandenbroucke's attention. "People tell patients that they now have to wait a long time for a scan because of the ban on supplements. That is the world upside down," he told De Standaard.
Vandenbroucke tried to prevent criticism by imposing out-of-hours scans only at the patient's request, and requiring hospitals to properly inform their patients about the financial implications.
