Dutch governing coalition crisis is resolved with compromise, though doubts remain

AMSTERDAM – A dispute over a health care bill that nearly caused the collapse of the Dutch government has been resolved with a compromise, though doubts remain about whether it will prove workable.

Conservative Prime Minister Mark Rutte told parliament early Friday morning that his government will tweak and resubmit the bill, which had been torpedoed Tuesday by three senators from the coalition's junior partner, the Labor Party.

The rift raised questions about whether Rutte's coalition is capable of carrying out its own legislative program.

He angered opposition parties by saying that if the bill fails again, he will attempt to implement it anyway as a policy decision. The bill would restrict patients' choice of specialists to those approved by insurers — a measure intended to reduce health care costs.