The Dutch cabinet is set to discuss plans to raise the health insurance own risk element from €385 to around €455 next year at its weekly meeting on Friday, despite having no guaranteed majority in either house of parliament.
The minority coalition holds just 66 of 150 seats in the lower house of parliament and 22 of 75 in the senate. Even with support from far right JA21, the only opposition party to back the plan, the government would fall short of a majority in both chambers.
The GroenLinks-PvdA alliance and the farmers’ party BBB, whose senate seats could deliver a majority, have pledged to vote against the increase. The legislation must pass before budget day in September so that insurers can set 2027 premiums in November.
If the plan passes, patients would pay around €70 more towards treatment before insurance kicks in, but monthly premiums are expected to drop by around €25. A proposed €150 cap per treatment is designed to limit costs for people with chronic conditions.
If the plan to increase the own-risk payment fails, the government faces a €1 billion budget shortfall that would need to be filled by cuts or tax rises elsewhere.
The own risk has been frozen at €385 since 2016. The previous cabinet had planned to lower it, but the current coalition reversed that decision.
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