Health insurer proposes cap on doctors’ salaries

The Belgian Doctors’ Association (Absym) has called health insurer CM’s suggestion that doctors’ salaries be capped a “declaration of war”. CM also called for nursing staff salaries to be increased.

Earlier this week, CM president Luc Van Gorp said that the salaries paid to doctors and specialists was “unreasonable” in the light of the cost of medical care in general, and called for them to be reduced. He also argued that nursing staff ought to be paid more, and the entire system needs to be more transparent.

Absym chair Marc Moens said he was open to discussion, but called into question the presence of CM representatives on the boards of hospitals, pharmacies and other organisations that set the prices of medical service and equipment. “CM needs to stick to its core business as medical insurer and stop behaving like a commercial business,” he said.

According to Van Gorp, the annual gross earnings of medical specialists  ranges from €195,000 for a lung specialist to €636,000 for a kidney specialist – with many earning more than €10,000 net per month.

Federal health minister Maggie De Block, herself a general practitioner, has expressed a desire for more transparency in doctors’ fees, but stressed that the is one for “long-term consideration”.