Novelle WCO I: a wrong step in the right direction, TvI 2021/30

1. Introduction

In this same issue, Van Zanten called the amended bill WCO I ("the Novelle") an important step toward a careful(er) resolution of bankruptcies. This contribution draws different conclusions and raises objections to the Novelle. The bankruptcies of the Slotervaart hospital and the IJsselmeer hospitals are the direct reason for the Novelle. Looking back, the bankruptcies can be called a corollary to the market forces introduced in the healthcare sector in 2006. Market forces also mean that healthcare providers can go bankrupt, according to the formal position of the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport in 2011. It is not often that hospitals go bankrupt, by the way; the bankrupt hospitals were numbers 3 and 4 in a thus relatively short list.

A substantial number of reports appeared in response to these bankruptcies, of which that of the Dutch Safety Board (OVV) received the most attention and is also cited extensively in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoT) to the Novelle.

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