Guides / Health insurance
Stage 3: your first weeks
Live or work here? Then Dutch basic health insurance is compulsory. Take it out within four months of arriving.
Checked on government.nl, November 2026
You get your citizen service number (BSN). Insurers ask for it. Read the registration guide.
Every insurer offers the same basic package and has to accept you. Compare the premium and which care providers they have contracts with. Compare two insurers below.
Supplementary insurance, for the dentist or a physiotherapist for example, is optional. For extras an insurer may ask about your health.
On a low income you may get healthcare allowance (zorgtoeslag) towards your premium and deductible. You apply in Mijn toeslagen from age 18.
Both websites are in Dutch. The basic package is the same at every insurer, so compare the premium and the care providers they work with. We may earn a commission if you take out insurance through these links.
Everyone who comes to live or work in the Netherlands, even if you are still insured in your home country. The exception is work for an employer outside the Netherlands: then insurance from home can be enough. The SVB can tell you which applies to you.
Students from abroad are sometimes already insured at home. Whether you need Dutch insurance depends on your nationality and on whether you also work. Check studyinholland.nl (opens in a new window).
The government decides what is in the basic package, so it is the same at every insurer. It covers care such as GP visits, hospital treatment and prescription medication.
Insurers must accept everyone for the basic package and charge everyone the same premium, whatever your age or health.
You pay a monthly premium to your insurer. On top of that, the first part of most care costs in a year is yours: the compulsory deductible (eigen risico). It doesn’t apply to visits to your GP.
Take it out after four months and your cover only starts on that day. Care you had before then is not reimbursed.
The CAK checks who is registered with a municipality but not insured. After its letter you have three months to take out insurance. If you don’t, the CAK fines you: €529.74 in 2026. The amount goes up every year.
Usually not. It can be enough only if your employer is outside the Netherlands. The SVB tells you which applies to you.
If you take out insurance within four months of arriving, your cover starts on the day you arrived. After that, it starts on the day you take it out.
Not for the basic package. For supplementary insurance they can, or they ask about your health first.
Insurers ask for your BSN. You get it when you register with your municipality.
Sources: government.nl, health insurance when you come to live here (opens in a new window), government.nl, standard health insurance (opens in a new window), rijksoverheid.nl, eigen risico (opens in a new window), hetcak.nl, uninsured (opens in a new window), government.nl, healthcare benefit (opens in a new window). Checked November 2026. Rules change, so check the source before you decide.
