Budget leak shows big increase in health insurance premiums next year

The government expects the monthly basic health insurance premium to increase to 158 euros next year, sources close to the Budget Day talks told the Telegraaf. The current average monthly premium is just under 150 euros.

Every year for Budget Day, the Ministry of Public Health calculates how high the next year’s premium for the basic health insurance package will approximately be. The Ministry expects an annual premium of 1,900 euros next year, compared to this year’s 1,792 euros.

According to the newspaper’s sources, the higher premium is due to higher wages in healthcare and inflation, which also makes healthcare itself more expensive. These higher costs are partly passed on to policyholders.

Health insurers themselves determine the height of their premium, using the government’s calculations as a guide. Some health insurers may use reserves to reduce the premium increase a bit, but they’ve done that often in the past years and might not have much reserves left. Insurers must announce their premiums for next year by November 12.

Low-income households will be partly compensated for the premium increase. The healthcare allowance will also increase next year by around 80 euros annually, covering over three-quarters of the premium increase.

The health insurance premium has risen considerably in recent years. In 2015, the average monthly premium was just under 100 euros. More increases are expected in the coming years, partly due to the coalition’s plan to significantly reduce the healthcare deductible. The deductible is frozen at the current 385 euros for the next two years, after which the coalition wants to halve it to 165 euros in 2027.

The expectation is that the lower deductible will mean that people will use more healthcare, pushing health insurance premiums higher. The government wants to compensate for that by reducing income tax.