Fleur Agema wrote that the budget debate of Health, Welfare, and Sport (VWS) in the House of Representatives was, in her view, terrible. She named the low point as Lisa Westerveld having taken the measure of Vicky Maeijer. Agema stated that the Schoof cabinet had invested a net of 3 billion euros in healthcare, while the Jetten cabinet wanted to cut 8 billion euros from the most vulnerable, according to her. She criticized PRO because the party would keep the option open to vote in favor of the VWS budget for 2027. According to Agema, that budget would, among other things, scrap the AZWA and HLO agreements and raise the deductible to 400 euros per year. She added that PRO expected most healthcare cuts from 2028 onwards, but that this also applied to social security, in her opinion. Agema called the contributions from factions supporting the cuts out of touch with reality. She wrote that the VVD requested attention for the staff shortage, while scrapping the AZWA and HLO agreements, according to her, would remove an agreed measure that would reduce the shortage by 100,000 in 2028. D66, in her view, wanted to reimburse slimming medication but would simultaneously scrap the AZWA agreement that included 20 million euros for that purpose. Agema also pointed out that 50PLUS wanted reimbursement for the shingles vaccine but might vote in favor of a budget that would scrap that agreement. PRO member of parliament Julian Bushoff, according to her, advocated for stronger fraud prevention, while PRO considered cuts that would remove 50 million euros for that approach. Agema thought that industry organizations were too quiet and wrote that the media approved of the situation. She expected that the ministers would present deteriorations as improvements and suggested that they would get away with it. #zorgbezuinigingen #TweedeKamer #VWS (translated)
