Nuffic (the Dutch organization for internationalization in education) and SOFIE (Social Fiscal International Expertise) have heard concerns from many universities and research institutes about the health insurance of European and international researchers and their family members in the Netherlands. Nuffic and SOFIE have found that it is not always clear why someone is not insured for the Health Insurance Act (Zvw) and Long-Term Care Act (Wlz). In particular, the term “resident” used to specify the scope of insured persons is ambiguous. It was noted that the Wlz (Long-Term Care Act) assessment criteria used by the Social Insurance Bank (SVB) to determine whether a person is insured are unclear. If the conditions for “residency” are not met based on this “Wlz test,” the researcher can only obtain private health insurance, which reportedly presents challenges such as exclusions for certain medical conditions and the possibility of high premiums. The issue revolves around researchers living and/or working in the Netherlands in various contractual configurations at Dutch universities or research institutions. Because of the lack of clarity and uncertainty about health insurance coverage, Nuffic and SOFIE asked ITEM to research this.
International and European researchers and their access to national health insurance in the Netherlands
Projectstatus: Completed
Researchers
Susanne Sivonen LL.M.
Researcher
Dr. Lavinia Kortese
Researcher
Pim Mertens LL.M. MSc.
Scientific Coordinator and Researcher
Dr. Sander Kramer
Researcher
Prof. dr. Hildegard Schneider
Partners
Related publications
Nuffic (the Dutch organization for internationalization in education) and SOFIE (Social Fiscal International Expertise) have
Reports