Average Dutch pays €100 too much for health insurance

The vast majority of Dutch consumers can save a lot of money on their basic health insurance policy, according to a study by the Netherlands authority on consumers and markets ACM and the Dutch healthcare authority NZa, NU.nl reports.

Last year three quarters of Dutch were on a basic health insurance policy for which there was a cheaper, comparable alternative. On average, Dutch pay about 100 euros per year too much for their basic health insurance.

The researchers looked at policies from 2016. In that year basic health insurance policies with almost identical benefits were offered at very different prices, sometimes even by the same insurer. The ACM and NZA expect that this is also happening this year.

Consumers who want to switch health insurers, must do so before January. Around 6 percent of consumers switch insurers per year. Over the past decade, 33 percent of consumers switched insurers at least once.