(Health reform was passed in the Netherlands in 2006. Hundreds of thousands of Dutch are now uninsured (see below). More recent reports also note that another 240,000 people have defaulted on paying their premiums, for a total of about 3 percent of the population with no or defaulted coverage).
Mnistry of Health Welfare and Sport, The Netherlands
Newsitem, 10 May 2007
On 1 May 2006, some 241 thousand people in the Netherlands were not insured for the costs of medical care. This 1.5 percent of the Dutch population.
People with a foreign background are relatively more likely not to be insured than native Dutch people. Many families with children are also not insured for medical costs. The percentage of uninsured among benefit claimants on the other hand was relatively low, according to figures form Statistics Netherlands. The new figure of 241 thousand is higher than previously published estimate of 182 thousand on 5 July 2006. This is because a more accurate method was used.
More than 4 percent of people in the Netherlands with a foreign background did not have medial insurance, compared with less than 1 percent of native Dutch people. People from countries other than Turkey, Morocco, Suriname, the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba were more likely not to be insured. Moreover, the percentage of uninsured among first generation immigrants is four times as high as that among the second generation.
Many children not insured
Around 40 thousand children do not have medical insurance. This is surprising, as no premium has to be paid for underage children. These uninsured children are members of families in which the parents are not insured for medical costs. Nearly 60 percent of uninsured children have a native Dutch background.
On 1 May 2006, 0.7 percent of benefit claimants did not have medical insurance. This is less than half the average for the total population. The percentage among people on income support is also lower than average for the total population, namely 1.0 percent.
About half of people without medical insurance are in their twenties and thirties. Men are slightly more likely not to be insured than women. Of all people without medical insurance, 57 percent are men.