Samenvatting

This article explores the shifting balance of health care values during the past thirty years. It becomes clear that in health care decision making the values and goals of the government policy gained weight in relation to those of the health care sector itself. The same is true for the health care insurances. The market ideology, the private aspects of health care insurances and in general the economical approach of health care appears to have gained influence compared to the medical approach, the public aspects of the health insurances and the professional interests of the health care sector. This article ends with a discussion about the possible implications of these shifts for the coming change of the health care insurance system.