ABSTRACT
A comparative analysis of developments in health care and health insurance in Great Britain and The Netherlands would require a book-length study. Much to the discomfort of post-war generations, the first national scheme of collective health insurance in The Netherlands was introduced by the Germans who occupied the country from May 1940 until May 1945. The post-war system of social security in The Netherlands turned out to be much more an extension on pre-war foundations than a radical break, like the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom. A more specific, historical factor that has blocked initiatives towards a NHS in Holland was the strong position that the medical profession had obtained within the field of the sickness funds. The Dutch post-war system of social security was influenced by the war. Somewhat to collective embarrassment, the Germans put a deeper stamp on it than the British did.
