Many more defaulters, slightly fewer uninsured in 2007

• Medical insurance defaulters up 26 percent
• People without medical insurance down 4 percent
• Sharp rise in income support claimants defaulting on medical insurance
• Decrease in uninsured mainly among foreigners

According to figures released by Statistic Netherlands today, 240 thousand people had not paid for their medical insurance at the end of 2007, 26 percent more than at the end of 2006. In addition, on 1 May 2007 more than 231 thousand people were not insured for medical costs, 10 thousand fewer than twelve months previously. The increase in the number of defaulters was mainly among people on income support and people with a foreign background. The decrease in the number of uninsured was mainly among people with a foreign background.

At the end of 2007, 240 thousand people aged 18 years and older in the Netherlands were insured for medical costs, but had not paid their premiums for at least six months. This is 1.9 percent of the adult population. Compared with the end of 2006, the number of defaulters was particularly higher in the age groups 20 to 45 years and 70 years and older.

The number of defaulters among income support claimants rose by more than 40 percent in 2007; one in 14 people on income support had not paid their medical insurance premiums. Half of the 240 thousand non-payers had a foreign background. The number of defaulters rose by more among people with a foreign background, 41 percent, than among the native Dutch population, 17 percent.  Just over 13 percent of Antilleans and Arubans had not paid for their medical insurance. 

On 1 May 2007, 231 thousand people in the Netherlands were not insured for the costs of medical treatment. This is 1.4 percent of the population. One year previously, 241 thousand people were not insured. There has been a noticeable shift in the composition of the group of people without medical insurance: fewer young people and more older people are not insured. In spite of this, nearly half of uninsured people are between 20 and 40 years of age. The number of people with a foreign background without insurance fell by 11 thousand. People in this group are still more likely not be insured than people with a native Dutch background: 0.8 percent of native Dutch people were uninsured on 1 May 2007, compared with 3.8 percent of people with a foreign background. On 1 May 2007, 0.5 percent of all benefit claimants were not insured for medical costs. Just as twelve months previously, this percentage is noticeably lower than that for the overall population.