The switching season for health insurance is starting again. You can cancel your old health insurance until December 31 and you can take out a new policy until the end of January. Switching to another insurer can pay off.
Everyone in the Netherlands is obliged to take out health insurance. The government determines the content of the compulsory basic insurance, which is therefore the same for all providers.
The basic insurance reimburses the necessary medical care such as a general practitioner, hospital, medicines, psychological help, ambulance and emergency care abroad (up to a maximum of the Dutch costs).
Paramedical care and medical aids are reimbursed subject to conditions. on www.zorginstituutnederland.nl and the policy conditions state all reimbursements and any conditions, such as a personal contribution. Insurers have an acceptance obligation for the basic insurance, so anyone can switch, including the chronically ill.
Changes
Every year there are small changes to the basic insurance. For example, from 2021 the basic reimbursement for diabetes will be simplified. Previously, the reimbursement for paracetamol 1000 mg, vitamin D and calcium disappeared from the basic package.
Own risk
There is also a deductible of €385 for the basic insurance in 2021. That is to say: the first €385 are for your own account. There is no deductible for, among other things, the general practitioner, loan items, flu shot for risk groups and district nursing. The deductible is different from the personal contribution. You always pay a personal contribution, you pay the excess until the amount has been reached. It is possible to voluntarily increase the deductible by a maximum of €500.
With various health insurers you can pay the deductible in advance in installments. It is not possible to surrender the deductible. An exception to this are a few municipalities that offer residents with a minimum income a collective health insurance policy in which the deductible is reimbursed via supplementary insurance.
Choose your own doctor?
Although the contents of the basic insurance are the same with every insurer, not every insured person can just go to every doctor or other care provider. That depends on the type of health insurance. With reimbursement insurance there is maximum freedom of choice and you will be reimbursed the full bill with every care provider, unless the rate is excessively high. If the health insurer has not made any agreements with the care provider, you may have to advance the bill. Refund insurance is relatively expensive. About one-fifth of the insured have a reimbursement policy. Three quarters of the insured have a policy in kind. For these policies, insurers conclude contracts with healthcare providers. An insured who goes to a non-contracted care provider has to pay part of the bill and that can add up to huge amounts.
Which care providers are contracted differs not only per insurer, but also per policy. An insurer can offer different policies, whereby fewer care providers are contracted for the cheapest policy. The budget policy is the cheapest in-kind insurance with the smallest choice of care providers. For example, in 2019 there were budget policies that had NOT contracted a hospital in Maastricht, Groningen, Leeuwarden and Assen. Good to know: emergency care is also fully reimbursed in a non-contracted hospital.
Additional insurance
The basic insurance covers basic healthcare. If you want more generous reimbursements, for example for physiotherapy, you can also take out supplementary insurance. These range from quite limited to very extensive. Additional insurance is not always useful. You do not use many fees and you can just as well pay other fees yourself. Therefore, look at the provisions in the supplementary insurance, tick which one you may need and put it next to the premium. Then it becomes clear whether additional insurance is useful.
Health insurers are obliged to list the contracted care providers on their website. There may be minor changes every year. A contracted care provider in 2019 does not also need to have a contract in 2020. Unfortunately, it can sometimes take a long time before all contracts are closed. With the average in-kind insurance, the choice of care providers is wider than with the budget policy. To avoid unpleasant financial surprises afterwards, you should check whether the desired care providers have a contract with your health insurance before you switch.
