WILLEMSTAD – For the second time, the court has overturned a decision by the Social Insurance Bank (SVB) in its long-running dispute with Lab de Med over access to a billing code and tariff for thrombosis care. The SVB must once again reconsider its refusal.
Lab de Med requested access to billing code 70192, which applies to thrombosis services. The service involves more than simply measuring blood coagulation levels. It also includes evaluating test results, monitoring patients and, when necessary, adjusting anticoagulant medication.
In 2016, at the request of the Analytisch Diagnostisch Centrum (ADC), the SVB established a tariff of ANG 33.25 for the service. Currently, only ADC is permitted to bill the SVB using that tariff.
The SVB has defended the arrangement by arguing that thrombosis care should be concentrated with a single provider.
According to the bank, allowing a second thrombosis service would create duplicate capacity, fragment healthcare delivery and increase costs. The SVB also cited its responsibility to ensure the efficient and financially sustainable administration of Curaçao’s basic health insurance system.
The court did not rule that this policy objective is inherently wrong. Instead, it concluded that a policy preference alone is insufficient to justify different treatment of two recognized laboratories.
According to the ruling, the legal provisions invoked by the SVB do not give the institution the authority to reserve reimbursement exclusively for one participating healthcare provider.
The dispute has been ongoing for several years.
The SVB initially rejected Lab de Med’s request in April 2023 and upheld that decision at the end of 2024. In December 2025, the court overturned the rejection, finding that the legal basis cited by the SVB was insufficient. No appeal was filed against that judgment.
The SVB subsequently issued another rejection in January 2026, this time relying on a different legal argument.
That reasoning has now also been rejected by the court.
The latest decision has been annulled, and the SVB must issue a new ruling on Lab de Med’s request. If the bank intends to continue reserving code 70192 and the associated ANG 33.25 tariff exclusively for ADC, it will have to identify another legal basis that permits it to do so.
The court stopped short of ordering the SVB to immediately grant Lab de Med access to the tariff.
Instead, the bank has been given another opportunity to provide a legally sufficient justification for its decision or reach a solution with Lab de Med.
The judgment was issued on July 17 and published on July 24.
The SVB was also ordered to pay ANG 1,400 in legal costs and reimburse Lab de Med ANG 50 in court fees.