Healthcare contribution
You pay a healthcare contribution for basic healthcare in the country where you live. And if you live in an EU/EEA Member State, Switzerland or the United Kingdom, you are also insured for basic healthcare in the Netherlands and medically necessary care in a number of European countries.
Calculate your healthcare contribution
Good to know
- We deduct the healthcare contribution from your pension(s) or benefit each month.
- The healthcare contribution consists of a fixed amount, income-related amounts and a country-of-residence factor.
- You do not pay a healthcare contribution for co-insured family members under 18 years of age.
- You do not pay a healthcare premium to the health insurer in your country of residence.
How much do I pay?
The healthcare contribution is made up of a fixed amount, income-related amounts, a country-of-residence factor and the number of insured persons. Therefore, your total healthcare contribution depends partly on your income and country of residence, and is calculated by your pension fund(s) or benefit agency. So it is difficult to say in advance exactly how much you will pay. The exact amounts can be found on the monthly breakdown issued by your pension fund(s) or benefit agency.
Tip
Nevertheless, you can use our calculation module to work out for yourself approximately how much you will pay over a whole year.
Fixed amount
You pay a fixed amount for yourself and each co-insured family member aged 18 or over. This is called the Zorgverzekeringswet – Zvw (Health Insurance Act) nominal contribution. This amount changes every year and is set by the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport.
Income-dependent amounts
The income-related amounts correspond to the percentages under the Zvw and the Wet langdurige zorg – Wlz (Long-Term Care Act). These are percentages of your income. These percentages also change every year and are set by the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport. Do you have more than one pension? Then you pay these percentages for each pension.
Please note
Do you have a WAO/WIA or Anw benefit? Then your benefits agency will pay a Zvw employer levy for you. You will then not pay an income-related Zvw contribution to the CAK on this income.
Healthcare benefits
Do you receive healthcare benefits from the Dutch Tax Administration? Then we will take these in account for your Wlz-percentage. Read more about tax credits.
Country-of-residence factor
The country-of-residence factor is different for each country.
| Zvw nominal contribution x number of insured persons | |
| Zvw % x income | |
| Wlz % x income | + |
| Subtotal | |
| Country-of-residence factor | x |
| Healthcare contribution |
See the country-of-residence factors, nominal contributions and Zvw and Wlz percentages by year
How do I pay the healthcare contribution?
You don’t have to do anything yourself in this regard. We instruct your pension fund(s) or benefit agency to deduct the healthcare contribution each month.
How does it work?
We do not transfer any amounts ourselves, because we do not know the exact amount of your monthly benefit. Your pension fund(s) or benefit agency itself calculates how much they need to deduct from your pension or benefit.
More than one pension
Do you have more than one pension? Then one pension fund deducts the nominal contribution every month. This is usually the SVB (Social Insurance Bank). All pension funds (including the SVB) deduct the Zvw and Wlz percentages from your income.
Tip
Sometimes, your pension fund or benefit agency may not be able to deduct the healthcare contribution right from the start. For example, because the registration date is in the past. In this case, keep in mind that you will have to pay for the missed month(s) yourself later, when you receive the annual statement. This applies even if your pension authority cannot deduct anything at all.
Will I receive a summary of what I have paid?
Yes, you will receive an annual statement from us after the end of each year. You will not receive it until July, August or September, because we have to wait for the Tax Administration to provide us with the data from your pension fund(s) or benefit agency.
The annual statement shows what your pension fund(s) or benefit agency deducted that year. And what you should have paid according to the Tax Administration’s income data. You will then immediately see whether you have paid the right amount, are due a refund, or need to make an additional payment.
Why do I pay a healthcare contribution?
Because you have a pension or benefit from the Netherlands, the Netherlands remains responsible for your healthcare costs. The Netherlands has agreed this with the country where you live and a number of other countries. We refer to these as ‘treaty countries’.
More information
Read more about the healthcare contribution in Section 69 of the Health Insurance Act