Invest-NL starts Healthy Return NL

Invest-NL, with the support of the European Commission, is launching a two-year project on structural financing for prevention to promote better health: Healthy Returns NL. Through this, we aim to contribute to a future where investing in health is more rewarding, and successful initiatives are not dependent on temporary funding.

The Dutch healthcare system is under increasing pressure due to a growing demand for care, rising costs, and structural staff shortages. Investing in health to reverse this trend is essential, but in practice, complex. Costs and benefits are fragmented across parties, and the effects of prevention often only become visible in the long term.

Translating European lessons into Dutch practice

In the new program Healthy Returns NL, Social Finance NL will explore financing models from the Netherlands and Europe that can structurally strengthen prevention. Think of Health Impact Bonds, population-based funding, and results-based financing. This provides insight into what works, where the bottlenecks are, and which solutions fit the Dutch context.

Stanleyson Hato, team lead Life Sciences & Health: “Other European countries face similar challenges as the Netherlands. They are also focusing on prevention to strengthen health and make the system sustainable in the future. In this project, we are investigating innovative financing solutions across Europe. The insights we gather will be translated into financial instruments applicable in the Dutch market.”

Making prevention financially sustainable

With Healthy Returns NL, Invest-NL is strengthening market development around prevention: we work on better access to financing and solutions for structural funding bottlenecks. Previously, we looked at results-based financing for cross-sectoral care: an integrated approach to care and well-being where professionals from different domains collaborate. We examined how such a network can be sustainably funded based on a societal business case. This is how we work towards a future-proof system in which investing in health becomes structurally possible.

Do you have questions about the project or want to collaborate as a policymaker, financier, or involved organisation on sustainable prevention funding? Contact Stanleyson Hato or Yvonne Roos of Invest-NL.