Slight rise in people defaulting on health insurance payments; First time in 7 years

The number of people who have stopped paying their health insurance premiums fell rapidly in recent years, but that decline has come to an end. Health Minister Ernst Kuipers said that the number of defaulters is basically holding stable. The ministry could not provide an explanation for the end of the decline.

In 2015, there were just over 312,000 people in default. Two years later, that was down to about 250,000. Another two years later, the total had dropped to about 200,000. Then, by the end of last year, 170,221 people had stopped paying their premiums. However, at the start of November 2022, the total rose to around 172,000, reflecting a slight increase of roughly 1 percent.

According to the ministry, the fact that the number of defaulters decreased in recent years was likely due to health insurers putting more effort into restoring failed payment arrangements. It may also indicate that citizens were in a better position to comply with alternative payment arrangements clients made with their health insurance providers.

Of the 170,221 defaulters at the end of last year, about 100,000 had been in that status for more than two years. The number of those in long-term default has also fallen in recent years. This could be due in part to the efforts municipalities have put in to establish contact with people who are in default, the ministry said.

People most often emerge from default when they make arrangements to catch up on payments, or when they actually pay off the entire debt in full.