The team of Maverick Advocaten has successfully assisted a national youth care provider in a preliminary relief procedure against the Region Gooi en Vechtstreek (“the Region”) on insufficient youth care tariffs for 2021. In cooperation with other youth care providers, Pluryn contests the tariffs that the Region and the municipalities intend to apply for the youth care procurement. According to the youth care providers, the Region uses a procurement method that is as uniform as possible, thereby ignoring the differences between the various types of youth care. Due to the insufficient tariffs, it is no longer possible for the healthcare providers to provide the youth care at a cost-covering level. In this respect, the healthcare providers referred in particular to the obligations laid down in article 2.12 of the Youth Act and the principle of proportionality that stem from case law.
The preliminary relief judge ruled that the intended tariffs may not be applied until the Region has duly substantiated that these tariffs are in accordance with article 2.12 of the Youth Act. In this regard, the judge stipulated a number of conditions for determining tariffs. First of all, there must be a reasonable balance between the price for the provision of youth care and the related quality requirements. Secondly, there must be thorough research. This means that the price is determined in a transparent process that is both traceable and recognizable for the healthcare providers. In addition, when determining the tariffs, account must be taken of: the expertise and terms of employment; the implementation reality and cost price, the specific circumstances per region; and the specific aspects per organization. Finally, a healthcare purchaser must substantiate that the established tariffs meet the requirements of the Youth Act. The preliminary relief judge has ruled that the last condition in particular has not been met by the Region. Therefore, the judge has decided to impose a prohibition to apply the tariffs determined by the Region until they have substantiated that these tariffs are in accordance with the Youth Act.
Earlier, Maverick Advocaten was successful in (preliminary relief) proceedings for healthcare providers in the procurement of youth care, forensic care and acute mental healthcare. Maverick Advocaten has also been successful in the fight against excess purchasing power of healthcare insurers.
For more information about the rights of healthcare providers in healthcare procurement and the possibilities for their trade associations to support them, see: www.zorgcontractering.com
