Fortunately, when it comes to health insurance, the Netherlands has something called “healthcare season.”Every year, the major deadlines related to healthcare plans and information fall at around the same time.
This means you only need to learn about these deadlines once since they happen annually during the same season.
Every year, all Dutch health insurance providers are required to disclose their premiums.
Since monthly premiums always go up in cost, this information is critical for future budgeting and financial planning. Additionally, new policies are also disclosed with the premium rates.
Annually, in November, is when all active health insurance providers roll out their expected changes in rates, coverage, and policies.
In 2023, the 2024 changes in coverage were required to be disclosed by November 12th. This officially kicks off the “healthcare season.”
Part of the benefit of requiring providers to disclose changes at the same time is that you (as an insurance shopper) can more easily compare rates and coverage policies across the board.
In 2024, you can expect new rates for 2025 and any changes in coverage to be released at around the same time in early November.
Every year, people are given until the 31st of December to either switch or cancel their current insurance. It is important to note that switching and cancelling will require different processes on your end.
If you are unhappy with the pending changes for the new year from your current health provider, you should take advantage of the “healthcare season” to switch providers and not simply cancel.
During this time leading up to the 31st when you switch to a new provider versus simply cancelling, your new provider handles the cancellation of your current plan.
This means that all you need to do is sign up for the new provider you would like, and they then handle the rest.
Now, during this period you can also freely cancel your insurance without having another provider.
While you will have to handle the cancellation yourself, sometimes it is better to cancel and give yourself time to properly compare coverage options.
At the start of each new year there is one major deadline related to your health insurance.
Annually, January 31st is the deadline for signing up for a new health insurance.
Remember, as we note within our knowledge center, everyone is legally required to have health insurance in the Netherlands. If you are uninsured, you risk being fined. We have the costs of the fines for 2024 here.
Therefore, if you cancelled your insurance or have yet to purchase insurance since recently moving, you have until the 31st. To help, we have broken down the new rates in 2024 from the most prominent insurance providers, as compared to 2023.
