The first Dutch health insurance 2027 premium has been published: €173.25 a month at DSW. That is €14.75 above its current price, a rise of about 9.3% and the largest in the insurer’s history. DSW announced it on Wednesday 21 October 2026, and the statutory deductible rises to €400.
What DSW Announced
The figures apply to the Netherlands, where basic health insurance is compulsory for everyone aged 18 and over who lives or works in the country, and is bought from a private insurer rather than from the state. The government sets the basic package and the statutory deductible; insurers set their own monthly premium.
| Item | 2026 | 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| DSW basic premium, monthly | €158.50 | €173.25 |
| DSW basic premium, yearly | €1,902 | €2,079 |
| Statutory deductible | €385 | €400 |
| Deductible DSW applies | Not stated in the announcement | €390 |
| DSW supplementary cover | — | Unchanged |
DSW said it drew €25 million from its reserves to hold the increase down, which it was able to do because of a positive investment result over the past year. The same result is why its supplementary policies are not going up.
Why DSW Says the Increase Is This Large
DSW gave three reasons, and the second explains why the jump is bigger than a single year’s cost growth.
- Rising care costs: Demand for care keeps growing, and wages and other costs in the sector are rising.
- A one-off that has run out: DSW kept its premium flat for 2026 by drawing on a surplus in the Zorgverzekeringsfonds, the national health insurance fund. That was a one-time effect, so the cost increases for both 2026 and 2027 are being passed on at once.
- A smaller government budget: DSW said the national budget allocated to insurers has been cut, particularly for community nursing, mental health care and hospital care.
Aad de Groot, DSW’s director, framed it as a structural problem rather than a one-year adjustment. “De overheid kan de rekening niet eindeloos terug laten komen in een steeds hogere nominale premie,” he said in DSW’s announcement — the government cannot keep passing the bill back through an ever-higher flat premium. He called that “een doodlopende weg”, a dead-end road, and said mutual solidarity in the system is coming under heavy pressure. DSW argues that premiums should depend more on income than they currently do.
Higher Than the Government’s Own Forecast
DSW’s increase is larger than the one the Dutch government budgeted for. In the Miljoenennota, the national budget presented on Prinsjesdag in September 2026, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport projected an average 2027 premium of about €169.08 a month, or €2,029 a year — an increase of €12.50 a month.
DSW’s €14.75 is €2.25 a month above that projected increase, and its €173.25 sits about €4 above the projected average. The ministry’s figure is a national estimate used for budgeting, not a cap, and each insurer sets its own price. DSW explicitly noted the gap between the ministry’s estimate and its own number in its announcement.
The Deductible Is Rising Too
The premium is only one of the two amounts changing. The statutory deductible — the amount a policyholder pays themselves before the basic insurance starts covering most care — rises from €385 in 2026 to €400 in 2027.
DSW applies €390 rather than the full €400, keeping a €10 reduction it describes as symbolic and intended to signal that it considers the deductible too high. A further increase of about €60, which the government had wanted earlier, has been deferred to 2028; sources differ on whether the 2028 figure would be €455 or €460, and it is not settled.
The deductible is not an automatic charge. It is paid only when a policyholder uses care that falls under it, and some care, including visits to a general practitioner and maternity care, sits outside it. Most policyholders do not reach the maximum in a year.
What a Full Year Costs at DSW
Put together, the two figures set the upper bound of what a DSW policyholder pays for basic cover in 2027, and this is the number most coverage of the announcement leaves out.
- Premium alone: €2,079 for the year, up €177 from €1,902.
- Premium plus the full deductible: up to €2,469, reached only by a policyholder who uses enough care to exhaust the €390.
Those are the amounts for a single adult on DSW’s basic policy before any care allowance. They are not a national average, and they are not what a policyholder at another insurer will pay.
Who Already Knows Their 2027 Price, and Who Does Not
Only DSW customers have a confirmed 2027 premium. Everyone else is still waiting, and the deadlines are fixed by regulation.
- 12 November 2026: All Dutch insurers must have published their 2027 basic insurance premiums.
- 19 November 2026: Deadline for publishing supplementary insurance premiums.
- 31 December 2026: Last day to cancel an existing policy for the coming year.
- 31 January 2027: Last day to take out a new policy for 2027.
DSW had originally planned to publish in late September and did so three weeks later than intended. Because it is traditionally first, its number is often read as a signal, but the other insurers’ premiums can and do differ from it in both directions.
The Care Allowance Figures Are Not Final
The zorgtoeslag, the Dutch means-tested care allowance that offsets the premium for lower-income households, is adjusted when premiums are known, so its 2027 amounts are still provisional.
Estimates reported ahead of the definitive figures put the maximum for a single person at roughly €140 a month, about €1,680 a year, with the asset limit falling to €119,122 — a change that one estimate suggests could remove around 50,000 households from eligibility. These are projections. The definitive amounts follow in November 2026, after the premiums are published, and are confirmed by Dienst Toeslagen, the Dutch benefits agency, rather than by insurers.
As of 21 October 2026, DSW’s €173.25 is the only published 2027 basic premium in the Netherlands, the statutory deductible for 2027 is €400, and the care allowance amounts for 2027 have not been fixed.
Annual switching windows of this kind are not unique to the Netherlands; in the United States, for instance, Medicare Advantage enrolees face their own 2027 deadlines on a different calendar and under different rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is the Dutch Health Insurance Premium for 2027?
Only one is published so far. DSW set its 2027 basic premium at €173.25 a month on 21 October 2026. All other Dutch insurers must publish their 2027 basic premiums by 12 November 2026.
How Much Is DSW’s Premium Going Up?
By €14.75 a month, from €158.50 to €173.25, which is about 9.3% and €177 more over a full year. DSW says it is the largest increase in its history.
What Is the Dutch Deductible in 2027?
The statutory deductible rises to €400 for 2027, from €385 in 2026. DSW applies €390, keeping a €10 reduction. A planned further rise of about €60 has been deferred to 2028.
Why Is the Increase Bigger Than the Government Forecast?
The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport budgeted for an average rise of €12.50 a month to about €169.08. DSW’s rise is €14.75. DSW attributes the difference to rising care costs, cuts to the budget allocated to insurers, and the end of a one-off fund surplus that held its 2026 premium flat.
When Can a Dutch Policy Be Changed for 2027?
An existing policy can be cancelled up to 31 December 2026, and a new policy taken out up to 31 January 2027. Each insurer’s own notice sets out its 2027 terms.
