Health care insurance act

This act came into effect on 1 January 2006, replacing the former system of private and state-funded insurance. It has fundamentally changed some aspects of health care insurance in the Netherlands.

With the exception of a number of special groups, everyone in the Netherlands is obliged to take out insurance for medical care. In the former situation, only people with an income under a certain threshold were obliged to take out insurance. Groups who are not obliged to take out insurance under the new act include:
- Military personnel and conscientious objectors;
- Asylumseekers in central reception centres and single underage asylumseekers;
- People with income from abroad;
- People from abroad on secondment in the Netherlands;
- Diplomats and employees of international law organisations;
- Foreign students in the Netherlands for reasons of education.