The Dutch health insurers announced their healthcare premiums for 2019. Not one insurer lowered their premiums, but Promovendum and Besured kept their premiums the same, NU.nl reports.
The four largest insurers Zilveren Kruis (Achmea), VGZ, CZ and Menzis are increasing their basic health insurance premiums by 7.50 euros, 4.75 euros, 8.55 euros and 3 euros per month respectively. An outlier is PNOzorg, which is increasing the premium for its basic package by 17.74 euros per month.
A video Minister Sander Dekker for Legal Protection posted on Twitter after a working visit to insurer Achmea caused some angry reactions, especially from lawyers. They called it an "promotional video", "shameless", and "unworthy of a Minister", RTL Nieuws reports.
Two of the four large health insurers warned that it is no longer possible for them to keep health care premiums equal, or increase them only slightly. Consumers may face a big premium increase next year, according to insurers CZ and Achmea, RTL Nieuws reports.
Achmea expect to pay out more than 100 million euros in claims for damages caused by the two storms that raged over the Netherlands in January, the insurer announced on Wednesday. This includes damages suffered by the agricultural sector, NU.nl reports.
Health insurance firm CZ has announced a monthly premium rate hike of three percent for the price of compulsory basic health insurance package. The rate hike will take effect from January.
The bump in CZ rates means Netherlands residents will pay 40 euros more for the year, compared to 2017 rates. The provider blames the rise on growing health care costs, saying that the entire increase was not passed on to the consumer, and that the company will have to tap 221 million euros from its own pocket to cover the shortfall.
Parents in the Netherlands are increasingly taking legal action against their children's schools, legal aid insurers told newspaper Trouw on Friday. The number of requests for advice in conflicts with educational institutions increased significantly over the past years. Educational organizations are concerned about this development, according to the newspaper.
Achmea is preparing for an increase in health insurance premiums next year, CEO Willem van Duin hinted at while discussing the insurer's half-year figures on Thursday, ANP reports.
"In recent years, health insurers limited the price increase buy using our reserves. That is obviously not a sustainable situation", the CEO of the Netherlands' largest insurer said. Last year Achmea reserved an amount of over 430 million euros to compensate for premiums that weren't covering costs.
Six of the ten large Dutch insurers still invest in companies that supply arms and weapons systems to Saudi Arabia, according to peace organization Pax in its Fair Insurance Guide. According to the organization, by investing in these companies, the Dutch insurers are violating human rights in Yemen, NOS reports.
Achmea is cutting about 2 thousand jobs in the Netherlands between now and 2019, the insurer announced on Thursday, ANP reports.
According to the insurer, these job cuts are necessary due to the further digitization and the changing needs of the customer. "A further decrease in our costs and number of jobs is inevitable", the insurer said. Achmea hopes to cut costs by at least 200 million euros in the next few years.
According to consumers association Consumentenbond, the Dutch health insurers have more than 3.3 billion euros in "extra" reserves, even though they're making less profits. The association calls on the insurers to stop "hoarding unnecessarily" and "do everything to reduce the premium increases", ANP reports.
Figures from last year show that the four big insurers CZ, VGZ, Achmea and Menzis made half the profit they did in 2014. "But the four still managed to put 307 million into the reserve port in 2015", Bart Combee, director of the Consumentenbond said.
Dutch insurers are not allowed to automatically increase insurance premiums of customers by more than 10 percent, Dispute Committee Kifid ruled in two cases. If the increase is more than 10 percent, the insured must sign that he or she agrees to it
Achmea will have to increase their premiums, the management said in a press release with their half-year figures. According to the insurer, this "unavoidable" premium increase is necessary to absorb higher damages caused by climate change
The heavy rain and hailstorms that hit the Netherlands over the past weeks are leading to massive costs for insurer Achmea. The insurer estimates that its clients submitted about 260 million euros in damage claims so far - enough that Achmea expects to end the first half of this year in the red
Much of the Slotervaart Hospital's business was done "off the books", with nothing written down. The hospital is accused of making millions of euros in profits by producing and distributing heroin and concealing the revenues.
Banks charge a too high interest rate for tens of thousands of homeowners who have a savings mortgage, because they do not take the savings that homeowners build up for repaying the mortgage into account.
Jeroen van Breda Vriesman has resigned as a member of Achmea's Executive Board, the insurer announced on Thursday. According to Achmea, the resignation is related to the Public Prosecutor's fraud investigation into the Achmea Health Centers.
Eight out of ten largest insurers in the Netherlands invested in companies supplying arms and military equipment to dictatorships and plutocracies like Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Nigeria, reports Eerlijke Verzekeringswijzer. The insurers' investment in 15 weapon suppliers totaled 6.8 billion euros between 2010 and 2014, the insurance comparison site announced on Thursday.
Profits of the insurer Achmea decreased drastically over the previous year, reaching the level of 16 million euros, reports De Telegraaf. The contraction is dramatic compared to 2013 when Achmea accumulated over 120 million euros in profits over the first two quarters en route to a 344 million euro profit for the year.
Several Dutch insurers have not passed the major European stress test SCR.
The Netherlands' second-largest health insurer, VGZ, has said the premium they will charge for the mandatory basic health insurance package will rise between six and 14 percent next year. The firm offers three different basic insurances, which will cost between €97.95 and €113.95 per month.
The Dutch investments in the nuclear industry have fallen with about 40 percent this year. Banks, pensions and insurers invested 1.4 billion dollar less in the production of nuclear weapons.
Six of the top ten insurance groups in the Netherlands have made major improvements in terms of sustainable investments in the last half year.
From October 1st the Netherlands will have a new health insurer - Anno12.
Dutch health insurance firm Achmea is reclaiming €4 million from more than 1,000 dentists.
