One quarter of a million people without health insurance

In 2002 there were 259 thousand people in the Netherlands who did not carry any health insurance. That is 1.6 percent of the population. In 1985 their number was still only 0.7 percent.

People without health insurance

Various reasons

There are various reasons for not carrying health insurance. Some people refuse to have insurance for reason of principal. Other people are refused by the insurance companies for economic reasons (such as overdue premium payments). A third group of people who are not insured are homeless people and alcohol and drug addicts.

People with health insurance

Compulsory health insurance funds, private and public medical expenses insurance

The overwhelming majority of people have medical expenses insurance. Most, just under two thirds of the population, or just over 10 million people, are with the compulsory health insurance funds. About 30 percent of the population carries private insurance, while almost 5 percent is insured for medical expenses through public types of insurance. These are for people working for Dutch municipalities, the provinces, the police and the fire brigades.

Rob Das

Source: StatLine