Healthcare in Amsterdam: compulsory insurance, the S1 and finding a huisarts who speaks English

Dutch healthcare is good and mostly speaks English, but it isn't handed to you: within four months of arriving you must take out your own health insurance, and the first few hundred euros of most treatment each year come out of your pocket.

The short version

• Everyone who lives or works in the Netherlands must have standard Dutch health insurance (basisverzekering). Take it out within four months of arriving, or risk a fine of more than EUR 400 (about £333) [1][3].
• The average basic premium in 2026 is about EUR 159 a month (about £133) per adult. Children under 18 are insured free [3][6].
• Adults pay a compulsory excess (eigen risico) of EUR 385 a year (about £321) in 2026, but GP visits don't count towards it [4].
• UK State Pensioners can usually have Dutch healthcare paid for by the UK with an S1, registered with the insurer CZ [1].
• The GHIC is for visits and study, not for living here [1][5].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = EUR 1.2002).

How Dutch healthcare differs from the NHS

Back home in Blighty, you register with a GP and the bill is settled through tax and National Insurance. The Netherlands sits halfway between that and a fully private system. Every adult buys a standard policy from a private insurer, but the government decides what the basic package covers, and every insurer must offer the same cover and accept everyone for it [3].

What that buys you is familiar: GP visits, hospital treatment, prescription medicine and maternity care [3]. The huisarts (family doctor) is the gatekeeper, just like your GP at home. You won't see a specialist in a hospital without a referral, except in an emergency.

The things that catch Brits out:

• You pay a premium per adult, not per household. Your employer doesn't buy the policy for you, though many have a group deal that gives a small discount [1].
• The eigen risico. Each adult pays the first EUR 385 of most care in a year, such as hospital treatment, tests and many medicines. GP care, including the out-of-hours huisartsenpost, is exempt, and children under 18 pay no excess at all [4].
• Dental care for adults isn't in the basic package. If you want it covered, you buy an aanvullende verzekering (top-up policy) on top [3].
• You need a BSN (citizen service number) to take out insurance and to see a doctor or hospital, so registering at the gemeente comes first [2].

Your first four months: getting covered

GOV.UK's guidance is blunt: you must have health insurance to live in the Netherlands, you must take it out within four months of arriving, and you could be fined more than EUR 400 if you don't [1]. There are around 60 policies to choose from [1]. If you're applying to the IND for a residence permit, it expects you to be insured too.

1. Register at the gemeente. Book your first registration with the City of Amsterdam to get your BSN. Our guide to BSN, DigiD and registering at the gemeente walks you through it.
2. Compare policies. All basic policies cover the same care, so you're choosing on price, on the type of policy (a natura policy is usually cheaper but pays in full only at care providers the insurer has contracts with; a restitutie policy gives you free choice), and on whether you want dental or physio cover added. The big insurers include Zilveren Kruis, CZ, VGZ and Menzis.
3. Choose your excess. You can raise your eigen risico voluntarily for a lower premium, but only do so if you could find the extra in a bad year.
4. Sign up and backdate. Cover taken out within the four months runs from the day you became a resident, so you're not left with a gap. Ask the insurer to confirm the start date in writing.
5. Check the healthcare allowance. Lower earners can claim zorgtoeslag from the Belastingdienst towards the premium. For 2026 the maximum is about EUR 129 a month (about £107) for a single person [6].

What it costs

A word on 2027. Some reporting of the 2027 health budget said the excess would rise to EUR 400 [6], but the government's own Q&A, updated on 4 November 2026, says the compulsory excess stays at EUR 385 in 2027 [4]. Your insurer's 2027 terms will confirm it before you renew. You can switch insurer until 31 December each year.

For a couple on average premiums, that's around EUR 320 a month (about £265) before any treatment, with the children thrown in free. That's a new line in the budget compared with life back home, so factor it into any job offer. Our guide to the cost of living in Amsterdam puts it alongside rent and the weekly shop.

UK State Pensioners and the S1

If you're retiring to Amsterdam on a UK State Pension, the UK may pay for your Dutch healthcare. GOV.UK says that if you live in the Netherlands and receive a UK State Pension or another exportable benefit, you may be entitled to UK-funded healthcare [1].

• How to apply: ring NHS Overseas Healthcare Services on +44 (0)191 218 1999 and ask for an S1 application form. Lines are open 8am to 6pm on weekdays and 9am to 3pm on Saturdays [1].
• Registering it: register the S1 with CZ, which is the only Dutch insurer that handles S1 forms. You then get a CZ insurance card and are treated on the same basis as a Dutch citizen [1]. CZ will explain what, if anything, you pay on top.
• Dependants: if you're covered as the dependant of a State Pensioner, that cover ends once you start claiming your own UK State Pension. A new S1 is sent to your registered address and must be registered to keep your cover [1].
• Keeping it: tell Overseas Healthcare Services if your address or circumstances change [1].

If your S1 registration is delayed and you need urgent treatment, ring the same number [1]. S1 holders can also get a UK-issued GHIC or EHIC for trips [1]. Our guide to the NHS when you live abroad and the S1 covers the UK side. Working pensioners should check first, because work in the Netherlands can change which country is responsible for your healthcare.

The GHIC: for visits, not for living

A UK Global Health Insurance Card covers state healthcare that can't reasonably wait until you get home, such as emergency treatment and care for a long-term condition, while you're visiting an EU country [5]. It's what you carry on a house-hunting trip to Amsterdam. It doesn't cover private treatment or getting you home, and the NHS says it is not a replacement for travel insurance [5].

Once you live here, you need Dutch insurance instead. Three cases worth knowing:

• Students from the UK should apply for a Student GHIC for their course. But if you work, do an internship or volunteer alongside your studies, you must take out Dutch health insurance [1].
• Posted workers sent to the Netherlands temporarily by a UK employer can use a GHIC, EHIC or S1, and HMRC's National Insurance helpline for non-UK residents can confirm your status [1]. See our guide to working abroad for a UK employer.
• Insured residents can get a Dutch EHIC through their insurer for trips, including visits back to the UK [1].

Seeing a doctor in Amsterdam

Registering with a huisarts

Register with a huisarts as soon as you have your BSN and insurance, not when you're already ill. Practices take patients who live nearby, and popular ones in neighbourhoods such as De Pijp, Oud-Zuid and the Jordaan can have full lists, so it may take a few phone calls. Most Amsterdam GPs speak good English. GOV.UK publishes a list of English-speaking medical facilities in the Netherlands for British nationals [2].

Out of hours and emergencies

• 112 is the emergency number for anything life-threatening [7].
• The huisartsenpost, 088 00 30 600, is Amsterdam's out-of-hours GP service. The line is open on weekdays from 5pm to 8am and around the clock at weekends and on public holidays. You must ring first; you can't just walk in [7]. Think of it as Amsterdam's answer to NHS 111, and it doesn't touch your excess.
• Where you'll be seen: the huisartsenpost runs from four locations, including Oosterpark 9 at OLVG's eastern hospital, Jan Tooropstraat 164 in Amsterdam West, Meibergdreef 9 in Zuidoost and Statenjachtstraat 1 in Noord [7]. Bring ID, your BSN and a list of your medicines [7].
• Hospitals. The city's big hospitals include Amsterdam UMC (with its AMC and VUmc sites), OLVG (Oost and West) and BovenIJ in Noord.

Pharmacies

Prescriptions are filled at an apotheek. Many prescribed medicines in the basic package count towards the excess, so early in the year you may pay the full price at the counter.

Before you leave the UK

Tell your GP surgery you're moving abroad, ask for a summary of your records and bring a supply of any regular medicine to tide you over. NHS hospital treatment is based on where you live, not on your passport, so once you've moved you're no longer automatically covered on trips home. The Netherlands travel advice showed an update date of 11 August 2026 when we checked on 8 November 2026 [8].

Found a brilliant English-speaking huisarts in Oost or Westerpark? Share it in our community group for Brits in the Netherlands.

Sources

1. GOV.UK: Healthcare in the Netherlands (checked 8 November 2026)
2. GOV.UK (FCDO): Living in the Netherlands (last updated 23 December 2025)
3. Government of the Netherlands: Standard health insurance
4. Rijksoverheid: Eigen risico zorgverzekering (last modified 4 November 2026)
5. NHS: Apply for a free UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC)
6. Zorgwijzer: Miljoenennota 2027, zorgpremie en eigen risico (15 September 2026, citing the 2027 health ministry budget) and Zorgwijzer: Zorgverzekering 2027
7. Huisartsenposten Amsterdam
8. GOV.UK (FCDO): Netherlands travel advice

Keep reading

• BSN, DigiD and registering at the gemeente
• Moving to Amsterdam as a Brit: visa and residence routes
• Cost of living in Amsterdam vs London and the UK average
• The NHS when you live abroad (and the S1 for pensioners in the EU)