Health insurance premiums rising nearly €10 per month in 2025
Zilveren Kruis, VGZ, and Menzis are increasing the monthly premium for their most popular basic health insurance by almost 10 euros next year. CZ is hiking premiums by just over 14 euros. The health insurers announced their premiums just before the midnight deadline on Tuesday. They call the price hikes unavoidable.
These four health insurers cover 85 percent of all policyholders in the Netherlands. They blame the higher premiums on wage increases in healthcare, inflation making materials and medicines more expensive, and the aging population resulting in more people needing more care.
Zilveren Kruis is increasing premiums by 8.80 euros to 156.25 euros. CZ’s premium is rising by 14.14 euros to 159.99 euros. Holders of VGZ’s most popular basic health insurance policy will pay 157.30 euros next year, 10.35 euros more than this year. And Menzis premiums are rising by 9.50 euros to 156.25 euros.
“However understandable, that premium increase is quite steep for many households,” Zilveren Kruis CEO Georgette Fijneman told NU.nl. Luckily, the healthcare allowance of up to 130 euros covers a large part of the premium for low-income households, she added.
Menzis used the premium announcement to advocate for the healthcare allowance to be paid directly to health insurers, instead of in Netherlands residents' own accounts. “We want to make it easier for our customers,” financial director Dirk Jan Sloots told the newspaper. “Then you no longer run the risk that the allowance is spent on other things. We do not want to prescribe what you should spend your healthcare allowance on, but we think we can make it easier for people.”
Paying the healthcare allowance to health insurers also ensures that the entire amount ends up in healthcare and insurers can use that to keep premiums lower. Sloot thinks this is a much more targeted and practical plan than halving the healthcare deductible, which the government plans to do in 2027.
Menzis and Zilveren Kruis both pointed out that halving the deductible will result in higher premiums. They also worry that the demand for care will increase because a lower deductible will mean that people seek medical care more often. “According to research, this means that 20,000 extra workers are needed in healthcare. And there are already shortages,” Sloots said.
