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Miscellaneous Sweden Trip Information [1971-1981] [7]
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404513879
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Miscellaneous Sweden Trip Information [1971-1981] [7]
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Lex Frieden Collection: Records on Disability Rights
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administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
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Record Group/Collection:
Donated Historical Materials
Collection/Office of Origin: Frieden, Lex, Collection
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International
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Countries
OA/ID Number:
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Folder Title:
Miscellaneous Sweden Trip Information [1971-1981] [7]
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5
2
7
5
ganisatie
een stichting. De dagelijkse leiding van de stichting
hetDorp is door de Ministeries van Volksgezondheid en Milieu-
h hetDorp berust bij het dorpsbestuur. Dit bestaat uit
hygiene en CRM erkend in het kader van de Algemene Wet
hetDorp is een woor
en, die jeder een bepaalde sektor behartigen. Eén
Bijzondere Ziektekosten (A.W.B.Z.). De exploitatielasten worden
met een lichamelijke
le bestuurder-bewoner, is een bewonen van hetDorp.
voor het merendeel door deze wet gedragen, naast een
wens en vermogen
(
wettelijk verplichte bijdrage van alle bewoners.
ers kiezen een bewonersraad, de medewerkers van
Daartoe biedt hetDo
orden vertegenwoordigd door een medewerkers-
hetDorp will zich en voor inzetten, dat lichamelijk gehandicapten
gemeente Arnhem,
I
oners- en medewerkersraad vormen samen met het
mogelijkheden voor "wonen, werken en leven' krijgen. Dat kan
verzorging, zoveel a
uur de dorpsraad, een overlegorgaan, dat in zijn
in hetDorp zijn, maar look elders. Het is van belang dat
heden om arbeid te
I denken aan het bestuur van een gemeente.
bewoners van hetDorp kunnen bijdragen aan de verdere
zinvol te besteden e
ontwikkeling van deze woonvorm, dat ze en - in positieve zin
maatschappelijke ve
ent de Stichting "Vrienden van hetDorp". Deze
van kunnen profiteren en dat ze bereid zijn in redelijke mate
leeft als doel het verbreiden van kennis, die men in
zelf gestalte aan hun leven te geven. Vanuit deze gedachten zijn
ledereen die in hetD
eeft, het kweken van belangstelling voor hetDorp en
de regels voor het huisvesten van nieuwe bewoners opgesteld.
demokratische wijze
steunen van die aktiviteiten, die van belang zijn voor
vorming. Dit geldt ZO
pten in het algemeen, of zij nu in hetDorp woonachtig
het de gang van zak
rbuiten. Dankzij bijdragen van 20.000 Vrienden kan
hetDorp is tot stand
steun worden verleend aan tal van projekten.
Het Dorp" in 1962. L
er vele woonvormer
Apeldoom
karakter. hetDorp is
A12
ARNHEM
Circuit
hetDorp
Velperbroek
Zulphen
Station
Onderlang
Utrechtseweg
hetDorp
Rijn
Rijnhal
Jachthoornlaan 1A
6813 CH ARNHEM
A52
tel. 085 - 452820
wonen
leven
hetDorp ligt op een heuvelachtig en bebost terrein, 1500 meter
Het leven in hetDorp "na vijven" omvat meer dan alleen maar
ten westen van het centrum van Arnhem. Fr staan 400
vrijetijdsbesteding.
woningen, in groepen langs overdekte binnenstraten gelegen.
In het kerkelijk en kultureel centrum worden, naast kerk-
Ze hebben ieder een eigen voordeur. De bewoners beschikken
diensten, voor en door bewoners evenementen georganiseerd,
over zit/slaapkamer, hal en een badkamer met douche en
zoals cabaret toneel, muziekuitvoeringen en showavonden.
toilet. Per 10 woningen is en een gemeenschappelijke ruimte,
Ook het café-restaurant deSleutel, met daarin het bruine café,
"trefpunt", en een kleine keuken. Warme maaltijden worden
biedt mogelijkheden tot ontspanning en ontmoeting
door de centrale keuken verzorgd.
De afdeling sociaal kultureel werk ontplooit aktiviteiten op het
Hulpverlening
gebied van kursussen en vormingswerk en begeleidt de
hetDorp biedt verzorging, verpleging en huishoudelijke hulp in
ontwikkeling van medezeggenschap van bewoners. hetDorp
een mate, die mede door de bewoners zelf wordt vastgesteld.
kent vele aktieve klubs en verenigingen. Nieuws en opinies zijn
Zo zijn privacy en zelfstandigheid gewaarborgd. Echtparen
o.m. te vinden in het eigen, 14-daagse blad deKontaktsleutel.
voor hen is er look een aantal geschikte woningen voeren
onder redaktie van bewoners en medewerkers. En is een door
overigens vaak geheel zelfstandig hun hushouding,
bewoners zelf bemande hulpdienst voor hulp van uiteen-
Een gespecialiseerde werkplaats onderhoudt en repareer rol-
lopende aard. Deze dienst wordt in haar werk ondersteund
hetDorp heeft als woonwijk een pastor, huisartsen, wijk-
stoelen. De afdeling adaptatie kan zorgen voor vrijwel iedere
door de maatschappelijke dienst.
verpleegkundigen en maatschappelijk werkers. Voor para-
gewenste aanpassing t.b.v. de rolstoel, het wonen, het werken
medische hulpverlening zorgt het vlakbij gelegen Regionaal
de kommunikatie, etc. Bewoners kunnen voor hun vervoer een
Revalidatiecentrum voor Volwassenen.
beroep doen op de busjes van de afdeling extern vervoer.
werken
In de aan de rand van hetDorp gelegen werkplaats Heijenoord
de
verrichten bewoners. maar look gehandicapten die buiten
hetDorp wonen. arbeid in het kader van de W.S.W Dit is
medewerker
mogelijk door aanpassingen aan hulpmiddelen en werktuigen.
De produkten komen meestal op de gebruikelijke wijze op de
markt. De werkzaamheden zijn zeer gevarieerd, o.m. hout-
hetDorp heeft in totaal ca. 430 medewerkers. Daarva
bewerking, vervaardiging van konfektiekleding en keramiek,
bijna 300 werkzaam in de verzorgende sfeer. De verz
montagewerk, het brailleren van boeken, het in kaartsystemen
en verzorgers, die in het dorp de naam "dogela" drage
verwerken van oude kerkregisters, doop- en trouwboeken en
richten hun werk in een vaste groep bewoners-van 30
het voeren van verenigingsadministratie.
Het streven is en op gericht bewoners en medewerker
In de aktiviteitencentra, elders in hetDorp, hebben bewoners
meer onder of boven elkaar te laten staan, maar naas
die niet in het arbeidsproces zijn betrokken. de mogelijkheid
hetDorp omschreven met het begrip "gelijkstandighei
om overdag met hulp zeer uiteenlopende aktiviteiten te
Aan deze veranderende verhoudingen wordt veel aan
ontplooien op velerlei gebied. Men organiseert samen met
besteed o.m. in introduktiekursussen voor nieuwe do
bewoners spelmiddagen, demonstraties, kursussen, lezingen,
regelmatige bijscholingskursussen, beide georganisee
filmvoorstellingen en look wandeltochten en exkursies.
de eigen afdeling opleiding.
Handicapped Students - The European Scene
It is perhaps unfortunate that in Britain much of the publicity
in favour of handicapped students has concentrated on problems of physical
access: the typical picture is of a student in a wheelchair stranded at the
foot of an imposing flight of steps. In Europe the approach appears to be
rather different. A recent information folder published by the Buro N.S.S.,
(the Dutch equivalent to our National Bureau for Handicapped Students), has
a cover-cartoon of two hefty and hairy students carrying an equally hai ry
handicapped friend up a flight of stairs in his wheelchair. Up to a point
the subject is still access: but the implication is that where there's a
will there's a way, and that the will must be embodied in the concern and
participation of fellow students.
Participation by f'ellow-students is a marked feature of special
provision in Europe. In Poland the Student Unions plan much of the provis-
ion and play a major part in the organisation of the rehabilitation camps
and centres: in Holland much of the special accommodation for handicapped
students has been financed by the annual tour of the National Student
Orchestra. In some countries handicapped students and graduates have them-
selves assumed a more active role in articulating their special require-
ments and in securing the requisite provision. In Finland, for example,
handicapped students have come together in an organisation named "The
Threshold'. Among its other activities 'Threshold' is assisting in the
planning of the Third International Conference for Special Education to
be held in Helsinki in August 1980.
Probably the most striking example of an initiative by a group
of handicapped students is in France where G.I.H.P. , (Groupement pour
l'Insertion des Handicapés Physiques) , was created by a small group of
handicapped students in 1964. This began as a university-based movement,
designed to assist handicapped people to enter universities, receive ad-
equale support and attain appropriate employment. In the past 15 years the
movement's aims have widened until they closely resemble those of our own
National Bureau. Its general purpose is to 'act to ensure that every
handicapped person shall, without undue concession, occupy in society the
place that justly belongs to him, at the same time accepting realistically
the limitations imposed by his handicap. Recruitment is no longer confined
- 2 -
to university students - indeed a welcome is extended to 1
all handi-
capped people who refuse to live passively. I
G.I.H.P. is playing an important role in the implementation of
France's Loi d'Orientation of June 1975, both by the submission of test
cases and by representation on central and regional bodies. By the autumn
of 1978 no less than eleven regional organisations had been established.
Their main f'unctions are representational, but in some areas they also run
a transport service and perform welfare functions. At four places -
Amiens, Vandoeuvre, Montpellier and Nice - hostels have been established
for severely-disabled students.
As with our own National Bureau, publicity and information are
essential activities. A twenty-page bulletin, 'Informations', is published
quarterly - a publication of high quality that combines a fully profess-
ional approach with an ability to hit hard where hard-hitting is needed.
A major feature in 'Informations' No. 60, (Summer 1978) , is a report on
the refusal by a restaurant owner to admit a family whose 10 year old son
was in a wheelchair. It seems that another customer had objected. The
incident is summed up in a cartoon on the front cover that displays the
French genius for ironic brevity. The boy sits in his wheelchair in the
road outside the restaurant. Beside him is the resounding slogan - 'Les
Francais doivent apprendre a vivre avec les handicapes physiques
:
behind him on the restaurant wall there is a notice - 'On n'accepte ni
chiens ni handicapés. 8
This concern about discrimination against a child of ten symbol-
ises the breadth of G.I.H.P.'s involvement in the predicament of all handi-
capped people. What started as a small group of university students pro-
moting their own interests has become a national movement dedicated to the
ideal of liberty, equality and fraternity for all handicapped French citi-
zens: or, in the words of its own slogan - 'Objectif - Vie
A similar broadening of concept is apparent within the Buro
N.S.S. in the Netherlands. This organisation was set up in 1945 as a mem-
orial to students who had been killed in the 1939-45 war: its purpose was
to run a sanatorium for students with T.B. Future events were to show the
value of a specialist organisation, however small. People with difficulties
came to the Buro N.S.S. because there seemed to be nowhere else to go - or
at least nobody who could solve some specific problem. An important con-
- 3 -
sideration was that the Buro did not simply provide information - it
maintained contact. Since 1965 a file has been kept on every client - by
January 1979 a file was opened for client no. 1355. Because of this
methodical follow-up the Buro N.S.S. is in a position to publish compre-
hensive statistics and detailed case-studies.
As in France it was discovered that it was not enough to possess
a central office; the Buro must move out into the Regions to make contact
with its clients. The head office is in Utrecht ( a Director, two adminis-
trative assistants and clorical staff), and there are five regional offices -
Delft, Amsterdam, Nijmegen, Groningen and Utrecht. Each of these is
staffed with one full-time social-worker/counsellor and one part-time
secretary. This advisory/counselling network operates in two directions:
1) for the handicapped person it is a highly individualised counselling
service, designed to investigate and alleviate all the problems resulting
from disability; 2) for others involved - parents, administrators,
teachers and fellow students - it is a specialised advisory service,
assisting people to overcome the problems presented by handicapped
students at home or at college. There is also an important mediation/
advocacy role, assisting a handicapped student to obtain the services
and provisions to which he is entitled.
To some extent Buro N.S.S. is financed by voluntary contrib-
utions and by the income from the proceeds of the sale of the sanator-
ium (closed in 1965). However the value of its work has been recognised
by the Ministry of Education whose annual grant to the Buro has increased
to £58,000. This is insufficient to support a task that is growing wider
and more complex every year. Like its French counterpart Buro N.S.S. has
extended its scope from the universities to cover the whole field of
secondary and tertiary education. This is an important point to note.
In Britain the National Bureau for Handicapped Students has encountered
the criticism that its range of interests is too extensive: but in France
and Holland an organisation that began with limited aims has found it
necessary to broaden them. Experience seems to teach that, in the educ-
ational context, the problems posed by handicap are indivisible and. that
an organisation to deal with those problems must be fully comprehensive..
G Tudor
5.7.1979
3
SOCIAL SECURITY IN THE NETHERLANDS 1
INTRODUCTION
HISTORY OF THE ACTS
The first Social Insurance Act in the Netherlands was the Industrial
Accidents Insurance Act which applied only to industrial workers in the more
dangerous industries. In 1921, this Act was considerably amended to cover
from that year workers in all branches of industry except those employed in
forestry, agriculture, cattle-breeding and shipping. For the latter groups of
workers the Agricultural and Horticultural Insurance Act and the Seamen's
Accidents Insurance Act were passed in 1920. Legal arrangements in respect
of accident insurance provided benefits for loss of wages after industrial
accidents, benefits for surviving dependants, and medical treatment required
as a result of the accident. In 1919 the Old-Age Pensions and Disability
Insurance Act came into force; this Act also was exclusively for workers and
provided for disability pension, old-age pension at age 65, widow's pension,
and orphan's pension. In 1930 the Sickness Benefit Insurance Act came into
operation giving, during a certain period, now 52 weeks, a benefit of 80 per
cent in case of incapacity for work arising from illness.
Before the Second World War, the Children's Allowances Act was
passed; this also applied exclusively to workers and initially granted children's
allowances only from the third child. After the War, the Act was extended to
allow the grant of children's allowances from the first child. Finally, in 1941,
the so-called Health Insurance Fund Decree came into force and was
superseded on 1 January 1966 by the Health Insurance Fund Act. This Act
provides for compulsory insurance for medical treatment for wage earners,
voluntary insurance for non wage earners and insurance for medical treat-
ment for old people.
All the Acts described so far applied only to employees. The ideas
prevailing in the Netherlands up to the Second World War concerning
persons insured under the various social insurance acts changed considerably
during and immediately after the War. The conviction grew that the various
legal provisions should cover the entire population (all residents) and should
not be limited to employees. Particular thought was given to legislation in
connection with Old-Age Pensions Insurance, Widows' and Orphans' Insur-
ance, Children's Allowances Insurance and insurance against major medical
risks. These principles have been realised in practice.
1 This monograh was prepared by the Netherlands Organisations Members of the ISSA.
3-
-
4-
4
A start was made with a number of so-called emergency regulations, i.e.
an Emergency Old-Age Pensions Act covering the entire population and a
Self-Employed Persons' Children's Allowances Insurance measure. These
emergency regulations were later replaced by definitive legislation: in 1957 a
General Old-Age Pensions Act, covering the entire population, and in 1959 a
General Widows' and Orphans' Pensions Act for all residents. Finally, since
1963 three Children's Allowances Acts have existed in the Netherlands: the
General Children's Allowances Act granting children's allowances from the
third child to all residents; the Wage Earners' Children's Allowances Act,
applying only for the first and second child; the Self-Employed Persons
Children's Allowances Act, also granting children's allowances for the first
and second child. Both wage earners and self-employed persons receive
children's allowances for third and further children by virtue of the General
Children's Allowances Act. To cover serious medical risks the General
Special Sickness Expenses Insurance Act came into force in 1968 granting
compensation (for the entire population) in case of long-term illness.
The expansion in the field of social insurance which has taken place in
the Netherlands has brought about a clear distinction between insurance
schemes applying exclusively to employees and those covering the entire
population. The earlier employees' insurances, the Disability and Old-Age
Pensions Act, and the Accidents Acts, were repealed in 1967. Their place was
taken by the Incapacity for Work Insurance Act (WAO) which was, for the
time being, an employees' insurance scheme. The repeal of the Disability and
Old-Age Pensions Act was made possible by the fact that the obligation
under international Treaties to grant an old-age pension, incorporated in the
Disability Act since its introduction in 1919, was better complied with by the
coming into force of the General Old-Age Pensions Act in 1957. Payments on
grounds of disablement have been provided for in the Incapacity for Work
Insurance Act. The Accidents Acts could also be repealed for the reason that,
since the introduction of the Incapacity Insurance Act, no distinction has
been made in Netherlands legislation between illness and accident. Anyone
who is incapacitated for work, irrespective of the question whether this
incapacity for work is the result of illness or accident, now comes under the
Sickness Benefit Insurance Act during the first 52 weeks and, after these 52
weeks, under the new Incapacity Insurance Act, which came into operation
on 1 July 1967.
The social insurance acts which at present apply in the Netherlands only
to employees are as follows:
(i) Sickness Benefit Insurance Act, giving a benefit during 52 weeks
after the commencement of incapacity for work (an accident also being
considered as illness);
(ii) Incapacity for Work Insurance Act, which applies to those who
have received benefits during 52 weeks by virtue of the Sickness Benefit
Insurance Act but who still remain incapacitated for work;
5
(iii) Redundancy Pay and Unemployment Benefits Insurance Act, which
gives a right to benefits in case of involuntary unemployment;
(iv) Unemployment Relief Act, giving an extended benefit to those no
longer entitled to benefits under the Redundancy Pay and Unemployment
Benefits Insurance Act;
(v) Health , Insurance Fund Act which gives entitlement to medical
treatment;
(vi) Wage Earners' Children's Allowances Act, giving a right to chil-
dren's allowances for the first and second child.
Insurance schemes in the Netherlands which cover the entire population
are as follows:
(i) General Old-Age Pensions Act;
(ii) General Widows' and Orphans' Pensions Act;
(iii) General Children's Allowances Act;
(iv) General Special Sickness Expenses Insurance Act.
To these must be added the Self-Employed Persons' Children's Allow-
ances Act and the Old-Age Pensions Act (1919) which provides only for
insurance on a voluntary basis.
In the following chapters the individual Acts will be noticed in greater
detail.
ORGANISATION
Long and extensive discussions took place in the Netherlands about the
organisation for implementing the Acts. The development has taken place in
the course of nearly seventy years, and gives an insight into the Netherlands
social insurance system.
As already mentioned, the first social insurance act in the Netherlands,
the Industrial Accidents Act, dates from 1901. The Government had
proposed that this should be administered by a National Insurance Bank to be
created by the Government. In spite of great resistance, particularly from the
employers, the implementation was, in fact, arranged in this manner, but the
Act also included the possibility of transferring the employers' risk to private
insurance companies, in order to meet the various objections raised. How-
ever, the final responsibility remained with the National Insurance Bank, an
official body. Efforts to make more use of the employers' organisations along
the lines of the Austrian Berufsgenossenschaften, ended in failure.
Later, in 1919, another kind of official body was created, the Labour
Council, to be charged with the implementation of the new Sickness Benefit
Insurance Act. No agreement, however, could be reached about the method
of implementation and the introduction of the Sickness Benefit Insurance Act
6
had to wait until 1930. For this reason the Labour Councils were at first
charged only with the implementation of the Disability Act which became
operative in 1919, as well as the voluntary Old-Age Pensions Act, which they
administered in conjunction with the National Insurance Bank. The Labour
Councils were and still are regional bodies. They are composed of an official
Chairman paid by the Crown, three employers' members, appointed by the
Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health on the nomination of the
representative employers' organisations, and three employees' members also
appointed by the Minister on the nomination of the representative employees'
organisations. At present there are 22 Labour Councils. When in 1919 these
Labour Councils entered on their first task of implementing the Disability
and Old-Age Pensions Act, they undertook in their areas all the activities
necessary to enable the National Insurance Bank to take decisions with
regard to granting benefits under these Acts. In 1923 they were also
instructed to undertake the preparatory work for the National Insurance
Bank in cases of industrial accidents, so that the latter could take decisions in
respect of pensions to be granted under the Accidents Act.
In the meantime, the battle concerning the executive bodies, as to
whether or not they should be governmental, continued. When, in 1923, an
Accidents Insurance Act for Agriculture and Horticulture came into force, its
implementation was at first delegated to the so-called occupational associa-
tions. These were associations which had been founded exclusively by
employers. These associations were the result of voluntary co-operation
between the employers in agriculture and horticulture and gave the workers
in this branch approximately the same rights as those contained in the
Industrial Accidents Act. When the Agricultural and Horticultural Accidents
Act came into force the Government gave these occupational associations a
statutory basis and they were put in charge of the implementation of this Act.
Two aspects of this are worth noting. First, the boards of these occupational
associations founded by employers had to be composed of an equal number
of employees' representatives, to be appointed by the Minister, as well as
employers' representatives. Secondly, membership of these occupational
associations was not compulsory. Employers who were not members of an
occupational association were by law automatically associated with the
government body, the National Insurance Bank. However, the large majority
of employers in agriculture and horticulture became members of the occupa-
tional associations.
The Sickness Benefit Insurance Act, which was passed by the Dutch
Parliament as early as 1913, only came into force in 1930. The battle
concerning the executive bodies, which as mentioned before has to be
considered as the deeper cause underlying the delay in the coming into force
of this Act, was then decided. The implementation was delegated to the
occupational associations and the official Labour Councils. For implementing
the Sickness Benefit Insurance Act only associations founded by employers'
and employees' organisations which were considered representative by the
7
Minister could be recognised as occupational associations. Membership was
not then compulsory for the employers. Those who did not join a recognised
occupational association automatically came under one of the Labour
Councils. The same also applied to the Wage Earners' Children's Allowances
Act, which came into force in 1941.
This situation remained unaltered until 1953. During that year the Social
Insurance Organisation Act came into operation. This Act laid down that the
existing insurance schemes, the Accidents Insurance Scheme, the Disability
Insurance Scheme, the Sickness Insurance Scheme, the Family Allowances
Scheme and the Unemployment Benefits Insurance Scheme were to be
implemented only by the occupational associations. This has in fact been
arranged in this way as from 1 January 1953 but with the temporary
exception of the accidents and disability insurance schemes, as the intention
was to replace these Acts by a so-called Incapacity for Work Insurance Act.
It is important to mention in this connection that the Organisation Act
put an end to the occupational associations with voluntary membership.
Since 1953, the Netherlands has only the so-called "compulsory occupational
associations This means that the Minister has classified industry and trade
as a whole into 25 branches of industry and that for each branch only one
occupational association, to be founded by the branch concerned, can be
recognised. Each employer in the branch concerned is obliged to join this
single occupational association. There are at present 25 compulsory occupa-
tional associations i.e. one for the building trade, one for the metal industry,
one for the printing trade, and so on. Not every company could be classed
under one single trade. For this reason the remaining group, the so-called
General Occupational Association, has been founded by the central em-
ployers' and employees' organisations. The present 26 occupational associa-
tions are executive bodies. For administrative purposes the Organisation Act
has appointed the so-called Joint Administration Office (Gemeenschappelijic
Administratiekantoor), which has been founded by the central employers' and
employees' organisations. The occupational associations are allowed to
perform their own administration. If they do not do so, they can place their
administration under the Joint Administration Office. More than half of the
26 occupational associations have chosen to use the latter possibility. In the
meantime, the introduction of national insurance acts has started a new
period in Dutch social insurance, not without consequences as concerns
administration.
The first national insurance system under the General Old-Age Pensions
Act came into force in 1957. The question then arose as to whether or not
these national insurance acts could be implemented by the occupational
associations, bodies which were exclusively founded for each branch of
industry by the employers' and employees' organisations. The answer was
negative. The administration was delegated to the Social Insurance Bank and
the Labour Councils, the National Insurance Bank having been changed into
8
the Social Insurance Bank. Until then, the board of the National Insurance
Bank had been composed of three civil servants appointed by the Crown.
This was now amended to the effect that the board of the Social Insurance
Bank was now composed of members one-third of whom were appointed by
the recognised employees' organisations, one-third by the recognised em-
ployers' organisations and one-third by the Minister. It was legally laid down
that in the one-third of the board appointed by the Minister two social
insurance experts had to be included, as well as two persons from social
organisations other than employers' or employees' organisations. The Chair-
man is appointed by the Minister.
This method of administration introduced for the General Old-Age
Pensions Act, was later also adopted for the General Widows' and Orphans'
Pensions Act and for the General Children's Allowances Act. In 1967, the
Incapacity for Work Insurance Act came into force and the Accidents
Insurance Acts and the Disability Insurance Act were repealed. The imple-
mentation of this new Act, as an employees' insurance system, was delegated
to the occupational associations.
The situation existing in the Netherlands is thus as follows. The
employees' insurance schemes embodied in the Incapacity Insurance Act, the
Redundancy Pay and Unemployment Benefits Act and the Sickness Benefit
Insurance Act are administered by the compulsory occupational associations.
The national insurance schemes embodied in the General Old-Age Pensions
Act, the General Widows' and Orphans' Pensions Act and the General
Children's Allowances Act are administered by the Social Insurance Bank
and the Labour Councils. This means that there is a clear distinction between
the administration of the employees' and of the national insurances, with one
exception. The Wage Earners' Children's Allowances Act, which gives
allowances for the first and second child, is not administered by the
occupational associations but by the Social Insurance Bank and the Labour
Councils. The reason for this arrangement is that these Councils also
administer the General Children's Allowances Act (for third and further
children) and divided administration would work very inefficiently. The
implementation of the insurance scheme for medical treatment has been
arranged in quite a different way. The Implementation of the Health
Insurance Fund Act has been delegated to health insurance funds authorised
by the Minister of Social Affairs and Public Health, that of the General
Special Sickness Expenses Insurance Act to the health insurance funds,
to the private sickness expenses insurers authorised for the implementation
of this Act and to bodies administering a public sickness expenses insurance
scheme for civil servants. The supervision of the administration under these
two Acts rests with the so-called Health Insurance Fund Council. The Old-Age
Pensions Act of 1919 (voluntary old-age insurance scheme) as well as the
Self-Employed Persons' Children's Allowances Act, are also administered by
the Social Insurance Bank and the Labour Councils.