Marcel Slockers

103 Accessibility to care for homeless people after the health insurance policy changes patient; 20% of the respondents occasionally report and 30% never report in this situation. Furthermore we asked about the experiences with the CAK and the submission of claims in order to finance the costs of care of the uninsured. 44% of the respondents indicating that they had experiences with the CAK (n = 16), described these as negative. Respondents reported that the CAK often indicated that a patient is not covered by the subsidy scheme, without making clear why not. Furthermore, respondents stated that the submission procedure is cumbersome and that patients still receive a hospital bill. In cases when a form was filled in incorrectly, there was no explanatory note. As a result, these applications could not be improved and were therefore cancelled. Healthcare professionals are very clear about the need of transparent information on the internal website of their organisation on ‘what to do in case of a needle-stick injury’? The question arises, however, whether there is adequate information available on what to do when an uninsured person calls for help? Medical students found that only one out of the eight hospitals in the Rotterdam Rijnmond region had an explanation on their internal website about the subsidy scheme with a reference to CAK. Due to this lack of information among healthcare professionals, uninsured people may not have been provided with optimal care. Every person without an address, and therefore uninsured, is entitled to accessible and good health care. In 2007, in the discussion on uninsurable foreigners, the Klazinga Committee stated that essential medical care is care that is included in the basic health insurance. 7 This statement was fully supported both by the LHV and LSV (a professional association in the Netherlands for general practitioners and for specialists respectively) as by politicians. We believe this applies to those who are subject to compulsory insurance and who are, without an address, uninsured. Research and experiences from practice show that the municipalities and the GGD need to improve their work to assist homeless people in providing an address and health insurance. There seems to be insufficient attention for the complexity of problems that homeless people face, and the local government is not very successful in helping the uninsured to get insured again. This needs to be improved. It is therefore important that all care profes- sionals are aware of the subsidy scheme for the uninsured. Subsequently, a notification will contribute to better social support from the GGD for those involved.