It’s that time of year again. Dutch health insurance providers have announced their monthly premium prices for 2016 and, as occurs every year, they have almost all gone up.

People in the Netherlands who want to change their Dutch health insurance have until December 31, 2015 to compare and switch their policy or insurance provider.

Main insurers raise prices

Big Dutch insurance providers such as Menzis, CZ, OHRA, Zilveren Kruis and Delta Lloyd have all raised their monthly premiums.

The increase is highest with Zilveren Kruis, whose basisverzekering (basic insurance) has gone up 7 euros to 109,45 euros per month.

Other insurance companies raised their basic insurance policies by:
› 4,45 euros to 104,95 (CZ)
› 2,75 euros to 107 euros (Menzis)
› 4,63 euros to 105,37 euros (OHRA)
› 4,60 euros to 107,50 euros (Delta Lloyd)

Insurers VGZ and Univé bucked the trend, keeping their basic policy prices 107,95 and 107 euros respectively, the same as for 2015.

These prices serve as a general indication of insurance premium costs for 2016. The actual price that an insurance provider offers can vary considerably based on many factors including:
› what level of coverage you choose
› if you increase your "own risk" amount
› if you make use of online or collective discounts
› if you select a natura (preselected healthcare providers) or restitutie (free choice of healthcare providers) policy

"Own risk" and policy prices

The above prices are for insurance policies with the lowest "own risk" amount of 385 euros. The own risk, or eigen risico, is the amount that people must pay for medical expenses before they are covered by insurance.

It is possible to pay a lower monthly premium by voluntarily setting your own risk at a higher level, which is cheaper if you don’t get sick - but more expensive if you do.

Reasons for the increase

The insurance providers attribute the higher costs to the ageing population, the cost of new treatments and new expensive medicines.

Interestingly, the increases are mostly lower than was predicted by the Dutch government, which stated in the Prinsjesdag 2016 budget announcement that it expected an average increase of seven euros.

Eigen Risico goes up 10 euros

For 2016 the Dutch government has increased the eigen risico by 10 euros to 385 euros.
 

Source: Het Parool