To invigorate the dedicated workers in and around hospitals, the health care bonus was implemented. While this is an admirable concept, how did this method work out? Jeroen Suijs, Professor of Financial Accounting at Erasmus School of Economics, provides his perspective in an article by RTL Nieuws and an appearance on BNR Nieuwsradio.
The care bonus was misused in a variety of ways last year. This is shown in a study conducted by RTL Nieuws. The government set aside 1000 euros for each care staff who was on the frontlines during the first corona wave, although this sum was not always put to good use. Malicious care directors pocketed the money and falsified personnel lists in order to pocket more bonus. Suijs examined the yearly financial statements of care firms. He, too, has reservations about the health care bonus's payout. It is difficult to determine the true degree of healthcare bonus fraud. RTL Nieuws conducted an investigation into around 300 businesses, while over 8000 were given a healthcare reward. In any event, it seems as if little attention was given to benefit verification. Suijs: 'As far as I am aware of this policy, the inspections are really little. Without a doubt, for bonus amounts of up to 125,000 euros. It seems to be virtually nil up to 25,000 euros.
Inadequate information
Professor Suijs said in the Tuesday 27 December interview with BNR Nieuwsradio that things seem to have gone wrong: 'Many healthcare organisations asked for a healthcare bonus even for staff who may not have worked there at all.' However, Suijs adds that there is still some doubt around the findings. RTL based their results on sparse data from a variety of yearly reports. 'To adequately verify this information, we need data from the personnel files of healthcare facilities. However, we do not have that,' Suijs states.
