Dutch health insurer DSW has just announced that its basic insurance premium will increase by €14.75 per month in 2027 to €173.25 per month — marking the biggest increase in the company’s history.
In an official news release, DSW writes that they were forced to implement the increase, citing “the continued rise in demand for healthcare and increasing healthcare costs”. They also point to cuts in the national budget, with the current government reducing funding to health insurers.
Not a DSW policyholder? Brace yourself for an increase in your own health insurance premium; DSW typically announces its price increases before most other Dutch insurers.
Other insurers have until November 12 to announce their insurance premiums for 2027.
How much more will you actually pay?
At DSW, the price of their basic insurance (basisverzekering) will jump from €158.50 to €173.25 a month. Over a full year, you’ll be paying €177 extra, to the tune of €2,079 a year.
Meanwhile, your mandatory deductible (eigen risico, or the amount you’re required to pay before your insurer steps in) will also rise from €385 to €400 in 2027.
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There’s a thin silver lining for DSW policyholders — the insurer aims to knock €10 off the mandatory deductible, a symbolic move to “make it clear that the deductible is too high and misses its mark”.
Further, their supplementary health insurance (aanvullende verzekering) will stay at 2026-level prices throughout 2027.
Why are prices going up so much?
“Essentially, we’re seeing two years of healthcare costs in one,” DSW director Aad de Groot tells NOS.
DSW’s news release also blames ongoing problems in the Dutch healthcare system: “the gridlocked mental healthcare system, increasing ageing, an expected rise in cancer diagnoses, as well as increased use of weight-loss medication”.
And drops in government funding just make a bad situation even worse.
The Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sport (VWS) had estimated a rise of €12.50 a month in health insurance premiums, but DSW says that figure ignored budget cuts to district nursing, mental healthcare, and hospital care.
We need a change of course, experts say
“We are seeing an increasingly large group of people struggling to pay their premiums,” de Groot continues.
In fact, roughly 195,000 people were six or more months behind on their health insurance premiums in November 2025 alone, according to a government report.
DSW wants health premiums to depend more on income, with a greater emphasis on keeping people healthy for longer: “The government cannot endlessly let the bill come back in the form of an ever-higher nominal premium. […] To halt the ever-rising healthcare premiums, a long-term vision accompanied by a change of course is needed more than ever.”
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