This year again, every Dutch person is faced with the annual choice: which health insurance should I take out? Every policy has its advantages and disadvantages, even within the same insurance groups. It is often tempting to go for the cheapest policy, especially now that prices are rising again. But is it really cheaper or will it ultimately cost you more?
Life is expensive enough for many people these days. This year, the average premiums have risen again, which means that the monthly costs are also higher. For some people it is tempting to opt for a cheaper policy. That is often a good choice, because the differences between policies are usually minimal.
Cheaper
Many insurance companies offer a cheaper option. The healthcare purchasing they do for this purpose is the same as that of the more expensive variants of the same group. Do you opt for a cheaper in-kind policy? Then contracted care providers are fully reimbursed. Is there no contract? Then you usually have to pay part of it yourself.
“These competitively priced in-kind insurance policies always do well in our comparisons. When we look at price and quality, these policies come out on top,” says health insurance expert Mirjam Prins of Independent. The insured care is the same for all basic health insurance policies, i.e. the same basic package. “That is determined by the government, so that is fixed.”
She emphasizes that many people would find it cheaper if they did a little more research into the options. For example, the NZa and the ACM calculated last year that more than 8.7 million premium payers have a basic policy for which there is a cheaper, (almost) equal alternative. That is more than 61 percent of all premium payers. On average, people in this group pay 103 euros more per year than if they had chosen the cheapest policy in the cluster.
What should you pay attention to?
It may therefore be worthwhile to look for a more competitively priced policy. But then good reading is important. It may differ per health insurer with which healthcare providers a contract is and is not concluded. But rest assured: almost all insurers conclude contracts with all hospitals in our country, even the cheapest health insurance of 2025 does this.
Many contracts are also concluded for practitioners and therapists outside the hospital. And that is necessary, because health insurers have a duty of care: they must ensure that their policyholders have access to the care they need.
Therefore, check carefully whether the healthcare provider you want to go to has a contract with the health insurer you want to join. You can check this on the website of the party where you take out the insurance. Also note that some insurers – often the cheaper ones – only offer digital contact options.
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