Finding health insurance as a Freelancer in The Netherlands can sound like a daunting and challenging task. However, it isn’t very difficult if you know where to look and what you are looking for.
Choosing Health Insurance as a ZZP’r (Freelancer)
When choosing your self-employed health insurance package, you have many choices that will affect the price of your insurance. The first choice is your deductible (eigen risico). A deductible is the amount that YOU must pay out of pocket before your health care plan starts to cover everything for you. You can choose between €385-€885 per year. You can make your health insurance cheaper by choosing a higher deductible. Another way you can make your insurance cheaper is by choosing to pay for a full year in advance, rather than pay monthly.
Another way to save A TON of money, and in some cases pay NOTHING for health care as a freelancer in the Netherlands is by taking advantage of the zorgtoeslag. Scroll below for more info on this.
Next, you will need to decide exactly what you would like in your health insurance package. You can choose to include a certain number of physiotherapy appointments per year, coverage for dental care, foreign health care coverage, or coverage for alternative medicine. It all depends on your lifestyle and what serves you best.
Right now I pay €116 per month through ZilverenKruis. I have the Basic Insurance and the highest deductible (€885). I also added on 6 physiotherapy appointments per year. Most people seem to be happy with them from the reviews that I’ve read. It is also easy to change your insurance plan once per year. They will send you an email letting you know the deadline for choosing a new plan. The only downside is that most things are in Dutch (just use Google Translate).
You can compare rates from all Dutch health care providers using one of the two sites below. Simply translate them into English using Google Chrome or have a Dutch friend help you out if your Dutch isn’t good enough yet:
Zorgtoeslag
People on residence permits like DAFT are usually not eligible for government support for at least 5 years. However, the health insurance benefit is eligible for ANYONE legally residing in the Netherlands, regardless of the type of residency you have. However, you must be below a certain income level to qualify for this.
If you meet the requirements, the government will cover the costs of basic health insurance and deposit money directly into your bank account every month.
Use this link to apply for Zorgtoeslag or to find out if you qualify for Zorgtoeslag:
Belastingdienst
If you are like me and realized that you have been qualified for Zorgtoeslag for the previous year, but never knew about it, you can get reimbursed for that whole year. This can be a nice surprise and a lot of extra money in your bank account! You can reclaim this money by using the link above.
I hope this helps you choose health insurance in the Netherlands as a freelancer!