Health insurers announce significantly higher premiums

Several health insurers announced significantly higher health insurance premiums for 2023 on Saturday. For example, VGZ will increase the premium by 9.30 euros, resulting in an amount of 141.95 euros per month and a 7 percent increase. The Menzis premium will cost 8 euros per month more, a 6 percent increase.

The increases are brought on by an aging population, greater demand and prices for treatments and medicines, and high inflation. As a result, salaries in the healthcare sector and costs for energy and materials will rise, according to the health insurers.

"We are well aware that this is a difficult message for our policyholders," said Menzis director Dirk Jan Sloots. According to director at VGZ Frank Elion, the increase is unavoidable. "We understand that this is a significant amount. Especially at a time when life is quickly becoming much more expensive, an increase in health care premiums is a message that we would rather not deliver."

CZ's most popular basic insurance policy will also increase by 3.75 euros to a monthly amount of 138.25 euros, an increase of 2.8 percent. In its own words, the insurer used a large part of its own capital to limit the increase in the premium amount as much as possible. At the end of September, health insurer DSW announced that it would increase the healthcare premium by 9.75 euros to an amount of 137.50 euros per month, an increase of 7.6 percent.

The health insurers have until this Saturday to announce their premiums. Insured persons can then check until the turn of the year whether they want to be affiliated with another health insurer in the following year.

More and more Dutch people are already having trouble paying their health insurance premiums, BNR reported on Thursday based on research by comparison site Independer. No fewer than 43 percent of Dutch people fear that they will no longer be able to pay for health insurance. In addition, 40 percent of the Dutch say they will look into another health insurance policy.