Changes ONVZ Vrije Keuze basic health insurance 2025

Changes to the basic health-care plan

• Excess

  Compulsory excess

  The statutory compulsory excess will remain the same. It will be €385 for 2025 too.

  More information about the excess

  Voluntary excess

  From 1 January 2024, you can only choose a voluntary excess of €0 or €500 per year. If you currently have a voluntary excess other than €0 or €500, nothing will change for you. If you want to change your voluntary excess as of 1 January 2024, you can only choose between €0 or €500.

  No excess for cross-domain and cross-sector collaboration

  As of 1 January 2025, health-care providers will be able to claim expenses incurred for cross-domain and cross-sector collaboration. This kind of collaboration makes it easier for doctors and therapists to liaise on certain cases. Not only with other health-care providers but also with, for example, bodies that provide help under support schemes run by a local authority, or with nursing homes who provide care under the Wet langdurige zorg (Long-term Care Act). More collaboration means better quality of care.

  No excess

  You will not have to pay an excess for cross-domain and cross-sector collaboration.

• Personal contribution

  Statutory personal contributions

  The government is changing the statutory personal contributions for 2025. These apply to medicines, medical appliances, antenatal/post-natal care, dental health care and medical transportation. If you need these types of health care, please see the personal contributions for 2025.

• Mental health at the General practitioner

  No excess for exploratory mental health consultation

  As of 1 January 2025, an exploratory consultation for people with psychological symptoms will be covered under the basic health-care plan.

  If you have psychological symptoms, you go to your general practitioner first. They can request help from mental health experts and experts from the social domain, which is help arranged by your local authority, such as debt help. They will then have an exploratory consultation with you to establish what you need and to discuss what kind of help would be right for you. This will ensure you get help from the right people as quickly as possible.

  Availability of exploratory consultations

  The availability of exploratory consultations differs by region. Ask your general practitioner about availability in your area.

  No excess

  You will not have to pay an excess for the exploratory consultation.

• Geriatric rehabilitation

  Conditions for geriatric rehabilitation changed

  If you need rehabilitation, there is geriatric rehabilitation care especially for people of a certain age with multiple health problems. Up to 31 December 2024, you have to meet a number of conditions before geriatric rehabilitation is covered under the basic health-care plan. You must, for example, have been admitted to hospital first or have an acute ailment that causes your functions to suddenly decline severely. As of 1 January 2025, geriatric rehabilitation coverage is no longer subject to these conditions. From that date onwards, an elderly medical care specialist or geriatric specialist will also be able to decide that you need geriatric rehabilitation care at home if that is the right care option for you. Also, returning to your home no longer needs to be the objective of geriatric rehabilitation care. The objective is for your functions to be restored or improved to such an extent that you can return to being a participating member of society again at your level. The idea behind easing these conditions is to ensure that the right group of people can get geriatric rehabilitation care.

   

  What will not change is that the basic health-care plan will not cover your geriatric rehabilitation care if you live in a facility providing care under the Wet langdurige zorg (Long-term Care Act), such as a nursing home, and are already being treated there. In that case, the geriatric rehabilitation care will also be covered under the Wet langdurige zorg (Long-term Care Act).

• Physiotherapy and remedial therapy: COPD and rheumatoid arthritis

  COPD

  If you have COPD at GOLD grade II 

  GOLD grade II or above, and you need remedial therapy supervised by a physiotherapist or remedial therapist, the number of remedial therapy sessions for adults with COPD will no longer be subject to a maximum from 1 January 2025.

  Rheumatoid arthritis

  If you have rheumatoid arthritis with severe functional impairments, you need help with simple day-to-day activities such as walking and personal care tasks. From 1 January 2025, the basic health-care plan will cover remedial therapy supervised by a physiotherapist or remedial therapist. Cover starts from the very first session.

• Medicine: Codeine

  Codeine no longer covered in most cases

  As of 1 January 2025, the basic health-care plan will only cover codeine prescribed for chronic and severe diarrhoea. Codeine will no longer be covered in cases of pain, cough, or acute diarrhoea.

• Childbirth care

  Counselling during pregnancy

  If you are pregnant and you want to find out the likelihood of your child having a congenital anomaly, your midwife, general practitioner or gynaecologist will go over the screening options with you. This is what is referred to as ‘counselling’. As of 1 January 2025, the basic health-care plan will no longer cover such counselling. It will, however, be covered by a government subsidy scheme, meaning that you will still not have to pay for counselling yourself. As a result, you will not notice this change in practice.

• Specialist medical care

  Maximum reimbursement for independent treatment centres without a contract

  At ONVZ you have the freedom to make your own health-care choices. You will always have access to every hospital in the Netherlands. If you would prefer to visit an independent treatment centre, ONVZ’s Vrije Keuze basic health-care plan covers most independent treatment centres as well. You can use our Zorgzoeker (in Dutch) online search tool to see which independent treatment centres currently have a contract with us.

   

  If you would prefer to receive treatment at an independent treatment centre that does not have a contract with us, that is indeed possible, but do bear in mind that maximum reimbursements apply in that case.

  Treatment at an independent treatment centre without a contract

  If you are being treated at an independent treatment centre that does not have a contract, you may be worried about whether or not that treatment will be continued.

   

  If your independent treatment centre had a contract with us in 2024:

  You can finish the treatment at this independent treatment centre. We will reimburse the rest of this treatment for a maximum of one year, as if the 2024 contract continued in 2025. If you start a new treatment at this independent treatment centre in 2025, this transitional scheme will not apply. Remember that our maximum reimbursements apply in that case.

   

  If your independent treatment centre did not have a contract with us in 2024 either:

  We will be happy to help you find a solution. Please contact our Service Center for this.

  Exception for specialist medical care covered by your supplementary health-care plan

  If you have Benfit or a higher supplementary health-care plan, these supplementary plans sometimes also cover specialist medical care:

  • Plastic surgery
  • In-vitro fertilisation (IVF)
  • Sterilisation and reversal operation and glasses
  • Contact lenses and laser eye treatment 

  The reimbursed amounts do not depend on whether you visit an independent treatment centre with or without a contract.

  Plannable health care abroad

  If you are going abroad to see a medical specialist, the same rules apply as in the Netherlands and visiting a health-care provider without a contract is subject to maximum reimbursements. We also have contracts with hospitals in Belgium and Germany. Please see the Overzicht ziekenhuizen buitenland 2025 (list of foreign hospitals for 2025, in Dutch) on our website to see which health-care providers have a contract with us.

  List of independent treatment centres that require permission will be withdrawn

  In 2024, you needed to request permission for check-ups, examinations and treatment at a number of specific independent treatment centres, which were listed on our Overzicht zbc’s met toestemming (list of independent treatment centres that require permission). This condition will be withdrawn in 2025. Remember that our maximum reimbursements apply if you visit an independent treatment centre without a contract.

  Requesting permission for treatment with a number of eye medicines at an independent treatment centre without a contract

  If you are visiting an independent treatment centre that does not have a contract with us, you must request our prior permission for treatment with a number of eye medicines (in Dutch) from 1 January 2025.

• Contraceptives

  No excess for insertion of an IUD by a midwife

  If you are having an IUD inserted or removed, you will not have to pay an excess if your general practitioner does this. From 1 January 2025, you will not have to pay an excess either if a midwife performs this procedure. If you are visiting a gynaecologist for insertion or removal of an IUD, note that the costs will be higher and that you will have to pay an excess.

• Mental health care

  Requesting permission for non-contracted health care

  In 2024, you needed prior permission for mental health care provided by a health-care provider without a contract if you had more than 35 consultations. From 1 January 2025, you will always require our prior permission when visiting a facility without a contract. This applies from the very first treatment. If you are already being treated at a facility without a contract and this treatment continues in 2025, you will still need to request permission. Without permission, you will not be entitled to coverage. You do not need to request permission if you visit an independent practice (i.e. a psychologist, psychotherapist or psychiatrist who works independently at their own practice). You can use our Zorgzoeker (in Dutch) online search tool to see which health-care providers have a contract with us. Please make sure that you select the correct basic health-care plan in Zorgzoeker.

   

  For more information, please see the Requesting permission page.

• Medical appliances

  Useful list of medical appliances

  Health insurers have worked together to create a uniform list of medical appliances (in Dutch) and their key conditions. You can use this list to quickly find whether you need permission and who needs to provide a prescription.

  Changes to conditions for medical appliances

  For 2025, like every year, we have made changes for a few appliances regarding who may prescribe the appliance or for how long you can use the appliance. If you will be receiving a medical appliance or a replacement in 2025, always check the conditions one more time.

  Reimbursement of electricity costs for your oxygen therapy equipment

  If you are using oxygen therapy equipment to help your breathing, you will be entitled to reimbursement of the electricity costs per hour that you use the equipment. From 1 January 2025, the reimbursement will be €0.09 per hour that you use the oxygen therapy equipment. If this reimbursement is not enough for you, you may ask us for a higher reimbursement.

  Service dog coverage

  If you have a service dog, we will provide a care allowance for (part of the) costs of food and medical and other care for your guide dog, mobility assistance dog or hearing dog. As of 1 January 2025, this amount will increase to a maximum of €325 every 3 months.

  Getting a hearing aid from a different category than indicated? Only from a supplier with a contract from now on

  If you would prefer a hearing aid in a category different to what you are entitled to, we will only reimburse the hearing aid if you buy it from a supplier who has a contract with us. If your supplier does not have a contract with us and you would prefer a hearing aid in a category different to what you are entitled to, you will need to pay for that hearing aid yourself from 1 January 2025. You can use our Zorgzoeker (in Dutch) online search tool to see which suppliers have a contract with us.

  Using your medical appliance without due care

  In 2024, the basic health-care plan would not cover replacement or repair of a medical appliance only if you were reckless in handling it. As recklessness only applies in highly exceptional situations, we have tightened our conditions, because we believe that you should always handle your medical appliance with due care. In 2025, the basic health-care plan will therefore not cover replacement or repair of a medical appliance if you fail to handle it with due care and attention, for example, by not following the user and maintenance instructions. In this case, you will have to pay the replacement or repair costs out of your own pocket.

• Health care abroad: Zorgassistance emergency centre

  Contacting us when being admitted to hospital abroad

  If you urgently need health care abroad, you no longer need to contact our Zorgassistance emergency centre in every situation from 1 January 2025. You will only need to contact our Zorgassistance emergency centre as soon as possible if you are being admitted to hospital abroad. If you do not contact us, this may affect your coverage. If you have doubts as to whether you need a doctor or if you have any health-related questions while travelling, you can also contact our Zorgassistance emergency centre for advice.

  Zorgassistance emergency centre guarantee

  Some health-care providers abroad require a guarantee that the costs will actually be paid if the health care in question is expensive. Our Zorgassistance emergency centre will arrange this guarantee at your request if you have the Wereldfit plan. We mistakenly did not state in the conditions that our emergency centre only does this for urgent medical care. This has now been corrected.

• General rules and regulations

  Changes to health-care plan cancellation

  Under certain circumstances, we may cancel your health-care plan. From 1 January 2025, we have added the rule that we can also do this if we decide to stop offering or carrying out a certain plan. We will always inform you of this separately.

  Go to General rules and regulations and coverage 2025