Compare Cheap Dutch Health Insurance in 2024: From €119.45/pm (2024)

The mandatory basic health insurance covers essential care – the kind of care that, according to the government, everyone truly needs.

Every year, the government determines what is covered within this basic insurance. This is established in the Health Insurance Act (Zorgverzekeringwet, Zvw).

Therefore, the coverage of the basic insurance is the same for every insurer, because it is legally determined which care must be included in the basic insurance.

Generally, the following care is covered by the basic insurance:

Medications can be reimbursed based on the basic package.

Medicines listed in the Geneesmiddelenvergoedinssysteem (GVS) (Drug Reimbursem*nt System) can be covered by the basic health insurance. Sometimes, additional conditions apply or a co-payment is required.

It is also possible for dietary preparations to be reimbursed from the basic health insurance.

Geriatric rehabilitation care can be covered within the basic package.

Geriatric rehabilitation care is a type of care where an individual must stay in a care facility under the supervision of a specialist in geriatric medicine (SO).

Often, a person receives this rehabilitation care after being admitted to a hospital for specialist treatments, for example, after a stroke or receiving a new knee or hip. This care is intended to assist vulnerable elderly individuals in returning home and participating in society.

General practitioner care is also included in the basic package.

General practitioner care encompasses all care provided by a general practitioner (or, for example, practice assistants and practice nurses). This care includes, for example, the assessment and treatment of various medical complaints.

The basic health insurance can also provide coverage for a variety of aids and devices.

Often, the health insurer investigates whether and for what exact purpose the aid or device is needed, and whether it has been proven to effectively contribute to solving the health issue.

Examples of aids and devices that can be covered under the basic package include aids for: breathing, alerting, contraception, mobility, consciousness disorders, diabetes, and those for the hard of hearing and deaf.

The basic health insurance can also provide coverage for integrated care.

Integrated care is the care for chronic conditions that involves multiple healthcare providers and doctors. Examples of integrated care include diabetes, COPD, and cardiovascular risk management (CVRM).

This care can be aimed at managing these chronic conditions, thereby improving well-being and preventing further complications. This could be done, for example, by offering support with eating habits.

The basic health insurance can also provide coverage for maternity care.

Maternity care is the support and care given to the mother and baby by a maternity nurse during and after childbirth.

This support is provided in addition to midwifery care.

Specialist medical care typically refers to care provided by a medical specialist.

This care is often reimbursed from the basic health insurance, but certain rules apply. Some specialist care may be excluded from basic insurance, such as plastic surgery, for example.

For instance, you may need a referral from a doctor to receive help from a medical specialist.

The insurer may require that the specialist care demonstrably contributes to improving health. Furthermore, the health insurer may need to give prior approval for certain treatments.

The basic health insurance may provide coverage for dental costs for insured individuals under 18 years old.

Often, dental expenses are fully covered by the basic insurance without charging a deductible. Orthodontic treatments – such as treatments related to braces – are generally not covered by the basic insurance.

For insured individuals above 18 years old, dental costs are not automatically covered within the basic insurance. Treatments by an oral surgeon and dentures may be reimbursed. However, there may be a deductible or co-payment.

Insured individuals above 18 years old may opt to take out additional dental insurance, which provides coverage for dental costs.

Paramedical care may be covered under the basic insurance. Paramedical care includes physiotherapy, exercise therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and dietetics.

The reimbursem*nts and conditions for the various forms of paramedical care may vary. Additionally, various conditions may need to be met to qualify for reimbursem*nt.

For example, physiotherapy and exercise therapy may only be reimbursed for chronic complaints and conditions listed on the so-called chronic list.

The basic insurance may reimburse various forms of medical care that require hospitalization.

This includes stays in a hospital, rehabilitation center, or mental health care institution (GGZ-instelling).

The basic insurance may provide coverage for maternity care.

Maternity care involves care for the (expectant) mother and her child by a midwife, general practitioner, or gynecologist.

Home care is nursing and personal care provided in the insured’s environment. This care is provided, for example, due to illness or physical limitation.

Examples of home care include wound care, assistance with dressing and undressing, assistance with bathing and showering, and skincare.

Sensory disability care (SD-care) may be covered under the basic insurance.

Sensory disability care is care for individuals who have difficulties with seeing, hearing, or speaking due to a language development disorder.

This care consists of assistance from various specialists who treat these limitations and thereby improve the quality of life.

The basic insurance may also cover the costs of healthcare abroad.

Typically, it must involve unexpected, emergency care. For non-emergency care – care that is not immediately necessary – permission is often required.

The basic insurance provides worldwide coverage, but some costs may not be reimbursed. You may need supplementary health insurance or travel insurance with coverage for medical expenses for this.

Note! This is just general information, and no rights can be derived from it. For more detailed information about the coverage of basic health insurance, visit: The National Health Care Institute of the Netherlands.

So, you must take out basic insurance, and these basic insurances offer the same coverage. However, you can choose between 4 types of basic insurances.

The difference between these 4 basic insurances lies in the freedom to choose a healthcare provider.

Below are the 4 types of basic insurances:

The free-of-choice is the most expensive policy because it provides the most freedom of choice. Therefore, you have the freedom to choose your own hospital or healthcare provider.

The word “restitutie” means “reimbursem*nt”. It may be that you have to pay the healthcare costs yourself first, and then these will be reimbursed by the health insurer.

However, you usually don’t have to pay any costs upfront. Virtually all health insurers with a reimbursem*nt policy have partnerships with almost all healthcare providers. They arrange the payments together.

You can typically also visit healthcare providers with whom your health insurer does not have a partnership. The costs are often still reimbursed for 100%, but they must be customary and fall within the statutory rate.

If the healthcare costs from the healthcare provider with whom the insurer has no partnership are extremely high, then it may be that the costs are not fully reimbursed.

The Managed care policy is cheaper than the reimbursem*nt policy, but it also offers less freedom of choice.

With a naturapolis, generally, the care itself is insured – and not the healthcare costs. You can visit a healthcare provider with whom your health insurer has a partnership.

Your health insurer and healthcare provider work together to handle the payments of the bills. So, you don’t have to pay any costs upfront, and this is very convenient.

It’s often still possible to visit a healthcare provider with whom your insurer doesn’t have a partnership. However, you usually won’t receive full reimbursem*nt of the costs – so you’ll have to pay a portion yourself.

The combination policy is generally cheaper than a reimbursem*nt policy and more expensive than a natural policy.

As the name suggests, the combination policy is a combination of a reimbursem*nt and a natural policy.

With this type of policy, you have access to care itself (natural) for some healthcare services and reimbursem*nt (restitution) for others. This means that you are free to choose a healthcare provider for some services.

For other services, it’s important to consider which healthcare providers your health insurer has agreements with in order to qualify for (full) reimbursem*nt.

The budget policy is, as the name suggests, the cheapest policy. Consequently, it also offers the least freedom of choice.

Essentially, a budget policy is a natural policy, but the health insurer collaborates with fewer healthcare providers. With a budget policy, you have access to fewer healthcare providers compared to a regular natural policy.

Therefore, you have even less freedom of choice.

If you visit a healthcare provider with whom your insurer does not have a partnership for the budget policy, you may have to pay the costs yourself (partially).

Good to know: You can usually go to any hospital for emergency care – even with a natural policy. Emergency care is medical assistance that cannot wait. Think of experiencing a heart attack.

On a basic insurance, there is a mandatory deductible. Anyone over 18 years old who incurs healthcare costs covered by the basic insurance must pay a deductible.

The deductible is the portion of the costs that you must pay yourself. You pay the deductible within a calendar year, so from January 1, 2024, to December 31, 2024.

In 2023, and also in 2024, the mandatory excess is 385 euros. You are responsible for covering the first 385 euros of insured healthcare costs.

Once your healthcare costs exceed 385 euros in a calendar year, the bills will be covered by the health insurer.

It’s not possible to take out health insurance without an excess because the excess is legally mandatory.

Because the excess is mandatory, people don’t simply use healthcare services unless it’s absolutely necessary.

Additionally, health insurance premiums are lower because individuals are required to pay a portion of their healthcare costs themselves.

So, in 2024, you always have a basic insurance policy with an excess of at least 385 euros.

You cannot decrease this excess, but you can increase it. You can opt for a voluntary excess. You often have the option to choose from the following excess amounts:

• 485 euros (+ 100 euros)
• 585 euros (+ 200 euros)
• 685 euros (+ 300 euros)
• 785 euros (+ 400 euros)
• 885 euros (+ 500 euros)

The higher the voluntary excess, the more healthcare costs you may have to cover yourself, and thus the cheaper the health insurance becomes. 885 euros is the maximum excess on a health insurance policy.

Increasing the excess results in a lower premium, but also brings a risk. You actually only benefit from a higher excess if you don’t incur any healthcare costs in 2024.

However, you never know if you will need healthcare. If you unexpectedly require a lot of healthcare, the costs can become higher.

Calculating the risk: You can calculate the risk. You can subtract the premium discount for increasing the excess from the excess itself. For example, the health insurance may cost 126.95 per month with a 385-euro excess, but 111.95 euros with an 885-euro excess.

You would then pay 180 euros less in health insurance premiums but take on an extra risk of 500 euros (from 385 euros to 885 euros). You subtract the 180 euros saving from this 500 euros.

So, you could incur a loss of 320 euros if you unexpectedly require healthcare.

The health insurer can reimburse your healthcare costs and then charge the excess. Your excess is often deducted via direct debit.

It may also take some time for your health insurer to charge the excess.

It’s often possible to pay the excess in installments. You can pay the excess in advance, for example, when you are certain that you will incur healthcare costs.

It’s generally also possible to spread out the payment of the excess, starting from the moment the healthcare costs are actually incurred. For example, if you have incurred at least 385 euros in healthcare costs in May 2024, it’s possible to pay that 385 euros in installments over the remaining months of 2024.

On nearly all healthcare covered by the Healthcare Insurance Act falls under the basic insurance, there is an excess.

This includes visits to a specialist, blood tests, medications, and emergency care.

However, some healthcare services from the basic package may not have an excess:

• General practitioner care (including care provided by practice assistants within the general practitioner’s office)
• Visits to an out-of-hours general practitioner service
• Maternity care and postnatal care
• Borrowed medical equipment
• Home care
• Care provided under the Wet langdurige zorg (Wlz) of Wet maatschappelijke ondersteuning (Wmo)