Dutch Health Insurance 2027: Price Your Own Provider First

A provider outside your insurer's contracts can turn a EUR 1.500 bill into EUR 900 of your own money. This guide gives two sums, the non-contracted gap and one year total per basic-plus-add-on bundle, and sets out the 2027 facts: a EUR 400 deductible, no more…

What you need to know

The Chinese- or English-speaking psychologist, physiotherapist or dentist you want to keep seeing sends a bill for EUR 1.500. Your policy is a naturapolis, and this provider has no contract with your insurer. In the official worked example of SKGZ, the Dutch health-insurance complaints body, the insurer pays EUR 600 and you pay the other EUR 900.

Every year insurers publish next year's premiums before 12 November, and you can switch until 31 December. This guide recommends no insurer. It gives you two sums: what a visit to a non-contracted provider costs you, and one year total for a basic-plus-add-on bundle. The rules come from Rijksoverheid, SKGZ and the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa), checked on 28 September 2026.

1. Two dates: cancel by 31 December, be insured by 31 January

✓ Before 12 November: insurers publish their 2027 policy conditions and basic premium on their websites.
✓ By 31 December: cancel your current policy. If you take out a new policy by 31 December, the new insurer cancels the old one for you (overstapservice).
✓ By 31 January: if you cancelled by 31 December but have not chosen yet, you can still take out a new policy by 31 January; it starts retroactively on 1 January, so there is no gap in cover. Rijksoverheid words this as 1 February and SKGZ as 31 January; plan for the earlier date.

Why the extra month matters: the NZa reported in May 2026 that in the last switching season some add-on premiums were still unpublished on 19 November. The number you need may not be there on 12 November.

2. Three official figures for 2027

✓ Compulsory deductible (eigen risico): announced on 15 September, it rises with inflation from EUR 385 to EUR 400 in 2027. Some English pages still say it drops to EUR 165 in 2027; that is outdated.
✓ Average premium: the government expects EUR 169 a month on average (EUR 12,50 more). That is an average, not any insurer's price.
✓ Healthcare allowance (zorgtoeslag) for single people: up to EUR 140 a month. Eligibility depends on income and assets; see the benefits guide.

What these figures mean for a household budget is worked out in Hokimi's 2027 health insurance changes; this guide is about choosing the policy.

3. Only two policy types remain: naturapolis and combinatiepolis

✓ Naturapolis: the insurer contracts providers. At a contracted provider you are reimbursed best; at a non-contracted one only partly. A budget policy (polis met beperkende voorwaarden) is also a naturapolis, with fewer contracted providers or lower reimbursements.
✓ Combinatiepolis: free choice of provider for some kinds of care; for other care it works like a naturapolis.
✓ The restitutiepolis is gone: the NZa states that from 2025 insurers converted them into combinatiepolissen. Advice to "take a restitutie policy for free choice" is out of date.

4. Sum one: what a non-contracted provider costs you

You pay = the bill − (baseline rate × the reimbursement percentage in your policy)

The baseline rate (uitgangstarief) is usually the average rate the insurer agreed with contracted providers, not the price on your bill. The SKGZ example:

✓ Bill EUR 1.500, baseline EUR 800, policy reimburses 75%
✓ The insurer pays 75% × 800 = EUR 600
✓ You pay 1.500 − 600 = EUR 900

Use your own figures: the percentage and baseline are in your policy conditions (polisvoorwaarden) and reimbursement overview (vergoedingenoverzicht). Care that falls under the deductible is charged against the deductible first. The law only requires that the reimbursement is not so low that it stops you choosing a non-contracted provider (hinderpaalcriterium); it does not promise full cover.

5. Two questions before the first appointment

✓ Ask the provider: "Which insurers do you have a 2027 contract with?" Contracts are signed every year; this year's contract says nothing about next year.
✓ Ask the insurer: name the care and the provider and ask for an estimate of the reimbursement and conditions first. This is SKGZ's advice.

A GP (huisarts) visit never counts towards the deductible; see the guide to seeing a doctor. The sums matter for referred care: specialists, mental health and physiotherapy.

6. Sum two: one year for the whole bundle

Year total = (basic premium + add-on premium) × 12 + the deductible you expect to use + the non-contracted gap from sum one

✓ Deductible: at most EUR 400 in 2027; with a voluntary deductible (EUR 100 to 500) the ceiling rises accordingly.
✓ Non-contracted gap: add it only if you plan to keep seeing a non-contracted provider.
✓ Compare bundle against bundle: the NZa notes that some add-ons are sold only with one specific basic policy (koppelverkoop). The cheapest basic policy can be the one that shuts you out of the add-on you need.

The NZa counted 58 policies for 2026 and found few that really differ. Sorting by monthly premium compares one term of this sum.

7. Refusal, and when you cannot switch

✓ Basic cover must accept you: no insurer may refuse you the basisverzekering.
✓ Add-ons can be refused: cancel the old add-on only once the new insurer has accepted you.
✓ Premium arrears block a switch: if you are the policyholder and owe monthly premiums and associated costs, you cannot switch. Unpaid deductible alone does not block it. In arrears? Call Zorgverzekeringslijn (SKGZ) first.

8. When you can switch during the year

✓ You turn 18 and leave a family policy
✓ You move to another employer's or organisation's collective policy
✓ Your insurer worsens your conditions or ends your cover

These are the cases SKGZ lists; for anything else, ask your insurer.

9. Checklist before you switch

✓ List the providers and care you will keep using next year (mental health, physio, dental, specialist)
✓ Ask each provider which insurers they have a 2027 contract with
✓ For the non-contracted ones, work out the gap with sum one
✓ Price each basic-plus-add-on bundle for a year with sum two
✓ Cancel or sign by 31 December; not decided yet? Cancel, then insure by 31 January
✓ Confirm acceptance for add-ons before cancelling the old ones

10. Hokimi summary and sources

Check whether the providers you use are contracted before you compare premiums, and work out the non-contracted amount yourself from the bill, the baseline and the percentage. New to the Netherlands? Start with the newcomers handbook.

Checked on 28 September 2026. General information, not medical or insurance advice; your policy conditions and your insurer's written answer decide the actual reimbursement. Hokimi is not an insurance intermediary and this guide contains no affiliate links.