Chronically sick penalised in the Netherlands

Thousands of chronically sick and disabled people in the Netherlands now face bills of pounds sterling 1000 or more for care previously covered by national insurance schemes, according to the Dutch national committee for chronically sick people. Under changes in the law brought in on 1 January and 1 April, patients requiring expensive diets, such as those suffering from coeliac disease, will no longer receive financial help to meet costs believed to amount to pounds sterling 1000 a year. Patients needing medical instruments such as hearing aids, and orthopaedic shoes will have to meet 15% of the …