Forty-two Dutch hospitals (nearly half of all hospitals in the Netherlands) represented by the industry association SAZ have joined forces with a small health insurer to create their own health plan. The collaboration is aimed at countering the hospital consolidations and closures that large health insurers in the Netherlands have been encouraging to decrease health care costs. SAZ says that greater collaboration among hospitals will bring down costs, and that closing hospitals will only reduce the accessibility of care for patients.
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