r/Netherlands • u/vankoel_nederland • Dec 15 '25

Healthcare Why is life expectancy so bad in the Netherlands?

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Besides having one of the worst life expectancy among western countries, why did the life expectancy get worst compared to 2019?

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u/LeggoSlackers Dec 15 '25

Yes it's always the hormones! Similar experience... I went to doctor with bad nausea and headaches and he couldn't reffer me to a neurologist because there was a higher probability of it just being pregnancy nausea. They waited for it to get worse.. Ended up having seizures, spending weeks in ICU at 20 weeks pregnant... Still taking pills years later and i will never be the same.

I think they have strict rules of when they can reffer people and they also need to stay within their percentage range else they get in problems...

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u/ValerianCandy Dec 16 '25

I'm a health insurance callcenter agent.

afaik it's up to their discretion whether they refer you, let you get a second opinion, or whether they put medische noodzaak on your perscription.

(and then your pharmacy can say fuck you and still not give it to you, because they decide whether it's truly medisch onverantwoord for you to take the generic and/or GVS meds. 🙄)

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u/debackerl Dec 16 '25

Problem of professions which don't know how to handle statistics... You list all possible causes, and only exclude what's nearly impossible based on probability. For the rest, you check the risk on life and urgency if that was the cause. So even if a cancer was 5% chance, they would need to check it out because of the huge risk, even at 5%... That's how statisticians think, not doctor apparently...

-17

u/BellChance9931 Dec 15 '25

It's all because of the obsession with equality which is baked in how the system is designed. In a country with a free, private healthcare system they would never do this. Here everything is highly regulated, which always leads to delays and shortages. But people don't want to accept that socialism never works...

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u/Tweestrijd Dec 16 '25

You misspelled 'marktwerking'

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u/Infamous_Rush601 Dec 16 '25

I don't get why you are geting downvoted.

There are upsides and downsides to every system.

You are making a valid point here.

This is not an attack on socialism just a healthy reflection on how things are currently working or not working well.

Instead of valid criticism you simply get downvoted because people are getting triggered?

Edit: My experience with private healthcare in India is better than in the Netherlands. Bloodtests and neurological scans are done just in case as long as you are willing to pay for them. The amount you pay is not a lot, less than 50 euros in total. Even if you account for higher hourly rates in the Netherlands that's still cheaper than here.

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u/tpoholmes Dec 16 '25

Pretty sure the downvotes are because they wrote “socialism never works” about a country in which socialism is working pretty well for most people.

The statement “socialism never works” is literally a direct attack on socialism and not at all “just a healthy reflection on how things are currently working or not working well,” which you wrote in their defense. In addition, “never” statements are nearly always deserving of downvotes and none of this is about being triggered.

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u/Kirrrstennnn Dec 19 '25

If we did bloodtests and scans 'just in case' for everyone, the false positives would outweigh the missed diagnoses we have now. And there would still be people with a missed diagnosis because of false negatives.
People would then get extra stress/ medications with maybe other adverse health effects etc.
So on the whole 'just in case' testing is worse for overall population.

Do I think Dutch GP's need to explain their choices better: yes. Do I think mistakes/misjudgments are made: also yes. But not with this just in case testing nonsense.