Dutch basic health insurance is the minimum standard health insurance that every person who lives or works in the Netherlands must have.
Basic health insurance in the Netherlands
Also known as “standard health insurance”, basic health insurance in the Netherlands (basisverzekering) is - as the name suggests - the most basic type of health insurance that everyone who lives or works in the Netherlands is obliged to have.
The basic package provides the same level of coverage across all insurers. You are allowed to pick and change your health insurance company according to your personal preferences, and all health insurance companies are obliged to offer basic cover to all applicants, regardless of their age, gender or medical history.
Dutch basic health insurance providers
There are around 30 different basic health insurance providers in the Netherlands, and you can freely choose to take out insurance with whichever company you prefer.
Since all must offer the same standard of care, there is not a huge difference between the different basic insurance packages, but some may set conditions, for instance requiring you to attend certain hospitals, or allowing you to freely choose. It’s good to compare offers to make sure you understand exactly what is covered by your package.
Dutch health insurance companies
Dutch health insurance comparison
You can visit Zorgwijzer (website in English) or Independer to compare the costs of different health insurance companies.
Basic health insurance coverage
As a universal package, basic health insurance provides everyone with the same standard level of care. Exactly what is and is not covered by basic health insurance is determined by the Dutch government and is periodically adjusted. Basic health insurance covers emergency and routine medical care, including:
- Appointments with your doctor
- Treatments in hospital
- Ambulance services and patient transport
- Prescriptions
- Blood tests
- Dental care for people under the age of 18
- Limited dental care for adults, including emergency dental surgery and x-rays
- Maternity care
- Mental health care
- Appointments with medical specialists such as dermatologists, allergists or internal specialists
- Some therapeutic services like speech therapy, occupational therapy and dietary advice
- Physiotherapy for chronic disorders, covered from the 21st treatment onwards
It does not include:
- Routine dental care for people over the age of 18
- Contraception
- Glasses or contact lenses
- Alternative treatments
Additional health insurance in the Netherlands
If you would like to extend the coverage of your health insurance, you can take out an additional health insurance package.
Cost of basic health insurance
There are three main costs that you need to pay for your basic Dutch health insurance:
- A premium (premie)
- A mandatory deductible (eigen risico - see below)
- A personal contribution (only on some services - see below)
Health insurance premium (premie)
The main part of your health insurance costs is the premium (premie), a fixed fee that is deducted from your bank account each month. Premiums vary quite a bit from insurer to insurer, so it’s worth comparing packages to see what’s on offer.
Average health insurance cost in 2025
As of 2025, the average premium cost for basic health insurance in the Netherlands is 159 euros per month, according to Zorgwijzer, but you may be able to find much cheaper offers (especially if you choose a higher voluntary excess - see below).
Income-related contribution
On top of their premiums, all workers in the Netherlands contribute towards the cost of healthcare via an income-related contribution, known as the ZVW contribution after the Healthcare Insurance Act (Zorgverzekeringswet, ZVW). This contribution is deducted automatically from your salary by your employer, as part of your national insurance contributions, which also go towards pensions, long-term care and unemployment benefits.
Eigen risico (mandatory excess)
One relatively unique feature of the Dutch health insurance system is the concept of “eigen risico” (literally “own risk” but usually translated as mandatory excess, mandatory deductible or “own contribution”). The concept of a mandatory excess was introduced to ensure that people don’t “overuse” healthcare services, to keep the whole system affordable.
Your eigen risico is the annual amount that you must pay out of your own pocket for some treatments and medicines before your health insurance will cover the rest. The standard eigen risico amount is set by the Dutch government each year and covers the 12-month period from January 1 to December 31 (which means all of your medical costs within a given year stack up towards it; it is not applied per treatment or per health problem). It resets on January 1 each year.
You only pay the excess on basic insurance care, not for supplementary insurance, and there are a number of exceptions when you do not pay the excess (see below). Only people over the age of 18 pay eigen risico.
Eigen risico 2025
In 2025, the eigen risico is up to a maximum of 385 euros. If you do not have any medical costs in a year, then you pay no eigen risico. Otherwise, you pay the first 385 euros’ worth of medical costs each year, and then your health insurance covers the rest.
Mandatory vs voluntary excess
The minimum mandatory excess is 385 euros (in 2025), but some health insurers offer different deductible amounts. Some, like LoonZorg, cover the whole excess for you, so you don’t have to pay out of pocket for your basic medical care.
Alternatively, you can opt for a higher excess (known as a voluntary excess or vrijwillig eigen risico) in exchange for lower monthly premiums. This means that you’ll have to pay a higher amount upfront for any medical care you receive before your health insurer will step in to cover the rest of the bill.
The maximum voluntary excess you can have in the Netherlands is 500 euros. This is added on top of the mandatory excess to make a total excess of 885 euros.
Eigen risico exemptions
Certain medical services are exempt from eigen risico. These are:
- Care for children under the age of 18
- GP appointments
- Maternity care, obstetric care and prenatal screenings
- District nurse appointments
- Combined lifestyle interventions (GLIs)
- Exploratory interviews for medical mental healthcare
- Follow-up and travel expenses for organ donation
- Stop smoking interventions
Personal contributions (eigen bijdrage)
In some situations, you are also asked to pay a portion of the costs of your medical care within the basic package. This is known as a “personal contribution” (eigen bijdrage). The government determines exactly which medical services incur a personal contribution and how much you need to pay.
The personal contribution can be calculated as a fixed amount, a percentage of the costs, or an amount on top of a maximum reimbursement.
You can see an overview of exactly which medical interventions require a personal contribution on the Dutch government’s website (in Dutch), but some key things include:
- Medicines - Up to 250 euros per year for certain medicines
- Hearing aids - 25% of the costs
- Maternity care in an institution - 21,50 euros per day per mother and per baby
- Maternity care at home - 5,40 euros per hour
- Accommodation costs - 91 euros per night
- Patient transport by car or public transport (not by ambulance) - 126 euros per year
Set up your health insurance in the Netherlands
Healthcare allowance
If you have a low income, you may be eligible to receive the health insurance allowance (zorgtoeslag) to help you pay for your health insurance. This is worth investigating, as the income thresholds are lower than you might think.
Changing your Dutch basic health insurance
You are free to change your Dutch basic health insurance once per year. This usually takes place at the end of the year, so that your new insurer can take over your policy from January 1. To switch, you need to cancel your old health insurance by January 1 and take out a new policy before February 1. Your new insurance policy will then be applied retroactively from January 1.
Many insurance companies also offer a transfer service. You simply take out a new health insurance policy with them before December 31 and they will cancel your old insurance contract and take care of all the paperwork for you.
Note that this applies to basic health insurance only; if you have additional health insurance your policy might contain different cancellation clauses, so check your policy documents or contact your insurer to be sure.
However, you are not obliged to have your basic health insurance and your additional health insurance with the same insurer, so you can keep your additional package with your current insurer and take out a new basic package, or vice versa.
