Compare Health Insurances (2024)

How does our comparison work

Via our comparison module you can easily and quickly compare healthinsurance providers and find the coverage which best suits your needs. You can enter your applicable data, as well as your preferences, into the menu located on the left hand. Based on this data the comparer will organize the healthcare providers which are relevant to you.

Have you found the right healthinsurance provider? Then you have the option to directly register for this coverage by clicking on the button ‘Continue’. You will then be forwarded to a relevant page on the site for that particular healthcare provider. You will then be able to click on ‘Review package’, which offers you the possibility to further adjust the coverage as per your needs and wishes.

The results are sorted by default according to price where the cheapest coverage is always listed at the top. However, you can always opt to have the results organized as per quality or alphabetically by adjusting the settings in the ‘Sort as’ frame in the upper left corner of the comparer.

Once you have found the right insurance coverage you will be forwarded to the website of the concerned healthcare provider. Here you will need to enter some personal data. So do keep in mind to keep the following information close at hand:

• You national ID number
• Eventual personal data of other persons to be included in the coverage (partner, child)

Mandatory basic coverage

Everyone which lives and/or works in the Netherlands is legally obligated to be insured for the most common medical care. This care is included within the base-coverage insurance. Under most common care we understand purchasing medications and the eventual visit to a general practitioner or a hospital.

Other forms of care are covered to a limited extent; hospital transportation, paramedical care and some dental care. A healthcare provider may furthermore never turn you down for base-coverage insurance. This has been legally stipulated as such.

It is legally mandatory to possess a Dutch base-coverage insurance within four months before your permanent residence permit goes into effect. It is important for your base-coverage insurance to already be active at the time that your permanent residence permit goes into effect. In the case you would have applied for a base-coverage insurance later than as indicated above then you will have to pay the healthcare premium owed retrospectively back to the date as to when it should have been setup.

In the case no decision has been taken yet in respect to your residence permit then you are not yet able to set up a healthcare coverage insurance within the Netherlands. This also applies in the case you do already possess the authorization for temporary residence.

Some healthcare providers do offer packages for persons who move to the Netherlands to study or work. In order to be considered thereto you need to be in compliance with the following criteria:

• You do not possess a Dutch healthcare coverage insurance
• You do not have permanent residency
• You are currently not residing in guest accommodation facilities for asylum seekers

Basic coverage insurance

Within the coverage conditions of you healthcare provider you can find the details relating to which care you healthcare provider covers. Here you can also review the conditions under which the care is provided, as well as how often a certain treatment will be reimbursed and what you could eventually have to contribute in payment for a certain treatment.

Even though some conditions could deviate from one another per healthcare provider, you can usually assume the following care provision will be covered within the base-package:

• Medical care mostly provided by hospitals, medical specialists, general practitioners and midwives
• Medications and other medicines
• Medical equipment/devices
• Paramedical care including (limited) exercise therapy or physiotherapy, ergo therapy (occupational therapy), speech therapy and dietary or nutritional advice
• Dental care up to the age of 22
• Advanced dentistry
• Dentures
• Patient transport; sitting as well as ambulance transportation
• Hospital stays
• Maximum 3 IVF treatments (test tube fertilization/artificial insemination)
• Maternity care

Personal risk

In the Netherlands, along with a basic coverage, also own risk coverage is mandatory. For 2018 the mandatory own risk has been set at €385,-. This means that the first €385,- in healthcare expenses incurred throughout the year need to be paid out of pocket. This amount applies per person and not per family. The personal Risk can be increased up to maximum €885. In return thereto you can get a discount on the healthcare Insurance premium.

There is however also some care instances which are not covered under own risk. For example, you do not need to pay extra for a visit to your general practitioner, midwife and maternity care. For children up to 18 years of age own risk does not apply as such. Own risks also does not apply to dental care for anyone up to 22 years of age.

Additional healthcare coverage insurance

The base-coverage insurance does not cover all different types of care. That is why you can, besides your base-coverage insurance, also organize one or more additional insurance coverage policies. If, for example, you have, or are expecting, high healthcare expenses then it would be convenient for you to take on additional insurance coverage. It is possible to take on additional coverage for physiotherapy, dentistry, healthcare abroad, revalidation at a spa or some special facility as well as various types of therapies.

All Dutch healthcare providers offer additional insurance coverage polices besides the base-coverage. These additional products can differ in composition, coverage and price from other healthcare providers. You can set up the additional insurance product with the same provider as the one which provides your base-coverage but you are also free to choose a different healthcare provider for that purpose.

Healthcare providers may themselves determine which packages they will offer and as per which conditions. This is as such because additional insurance products, in comparison to the base-coverage insurance, are not included within the Healthcare insurance law. That is why a healthcare provider is allowed to refuse to provide you with additional insurance coverage or to request a higher premium if you are more advanced in age or if you suffer from a chronic illness.

No Cash/ restitution/combination policy

When you set up a healthcare insurance coverage you also select a certain policy. This relates to the way in which your healthcare provider provides you with the required care. For example for a certain insurer, it could be possible for you to go to any healthcare institution (like hospitals and general practitioners), while for other insurers the coverage will only cover care provided by those institutions with whom the insurer has made an agreement in terms of price and quality. For most insurers you can choose between a no cash policy and a restitution policy. There is also an intermediary format called a combination policy. Below we will briefly explain the differences:

No Cash policy

If you opt for a No Cash policy then you will have access to care provided by healthcare institutions with which your insurer has established a contract. You do not need to advance the costs thereto. Because your insurer has made certain agreements with the healthcare institutions and he will pay the healthcare institution directly.

Would you still decide to choose for a healthcare institution which is not under contract with your healthcare insurance provider then you have the possibility that this care will not be (entirely) reimbursed. The exception to the rule is emergency care. In this respect you can end up at any healthcare institution and all expenses will always be covered as such, notwithstanding who is providing the care.

Restitution policy

In the case of a restitution policy you can choose yourself the healthcare institution you wish to use or visit. With this policy you advance the expenses thereto required yourself. The payment receipt thereto can then be forwarded to your insurer who will then in turn reimburse you the expenses incurred as such.

Combination policy

The combination policy is a healthcare insurance where the No Cash policy and the Restitution Policy are combined. With this insurance you can choose the healthcare institution yourself. The insurer does indeed have agreements with various healthcare institutions which will result in the fact that some care provisions will be settled without advance payment while some other care provisions will have to be advanced as such.

Pro-Life policy

In the case that you would be opposed, based on religious reasons, to abortion, embryo selection or euthanasia, then you can choose to exclude these treatments from your health insurance coverage. This policy is also called a pro-life policy.