More people falling behind on health insurance payments, says ABN Amro

More people are struggling to pay for their health insurance. In the first nine months of 2022, health insurers handed over 320,000 accounts in arrears over to collection agencies. That is over 17 percent more than the same period last year, economists at ABN Amro calculated, AD reports.

“The first signs of problematic debts caused by inflation are now becoming visible,” ABN Amro economist Piet Rietman said to the newspaper. Economists consider payment arrears with health insurers as the writing on the wall because the health insurance bill is often the first that goes unpaid. Health insurance is somewhat abstract, and these debt arrears could appear to have fewer consequences than, for example, not paying your rent.

Insurer DSW told AD that the number of its customers who applied for a payment plan rose by 50 percent in August compared to a year earlier. The health insurer made 900 payment arrangements, compared to 600 a year earlier.

A VGZ spokesperson also noted an increase but stressed that the number of arrears is still lower than before the pandemic. Health insurers CZ, Menzis, and Zilveren Kruis, have not seen a significant increase in cases handed over for debt collection, but CZ did note a “worrying increase” in requests for payment arrangements.