Healthcare in Amsterdam: how the Dutch system works, from your GP to the ER

Dutch healthcare is good, affordable by American standards and built around one person: your family doctor. Get insured, sign up with a GP early, and know who to call at 2 a.m.

The short version

• Insurance is mandatory. Everyone who lives or works in the Netherlands must take out Dutch basic health insurance, and newcomers have 4 months to do it [1].
• Your GP (huisarts) is the gatekeeper. You see the GP first, and the GP refers you to a specialist or hospital. GP visits don't count toward your deductible [2].
• After hours, call the Amsterdam GP after-hours service at 088 00 30 600 before you go anywhere. Walk-ins aren't accepted [3].
• Life-threatening emergency: call 112 [3].
• Medicare usually doesn't cover you here [4], so the Dutch policy is your real coverage.

How the Dutch system works

Back in the States, your insurance depends on your job, your state and a maze of networks. The Dutch version is simpler. The government sets one standard package of care, and every insurer must offer the same one. It covers things like GP visits, hospital treatment and prescription medication [5]. Insurers compete on premiums, service and extras, and you can add supplementary insurance for things outside the basic package, such as more dental or physical therapy [5].

A few things will feel different from life back home:

• One premium, no employer plan. You buy the policy yourself, even if you work for a big company. Some employers chip in or arrange a group discount.
• Kids are free. Children under 18 must be insured but don't pay premiums for the standard package [5].
• There's a mandatory deductible (eigen risico) for adults. GP visits are exempt from it, but hospital care and many prescriptions count toward it [2].
• Low earners get help. The healthcare allowance (zorgtoeslag) helps people on lower incomes pay premiums, applied for through Toeslagen.nl [1].

Our guide to Dutch health insurance: the basic plan walks through choosing a policy, the deductible and the allowance in detail.

When you have to sign up

The government's rule is clear. If you come to live or work in the Netherlands, you need Dutch health insurance "as quickly as possible," and no later than 4 months after arriving [1]. That's true even if you still have a US policy [1]. If you sign up within 4 months, coverage runs back to the day you arrived. If you're late, you aren't covered retroactively, you won't be reimbursed for care in the gap, and the CAK, the agency that checks everyone is insured, may write to you and eventually fine you [1].

There are exceptions. If your employer is based outside the Netherlands, your home-country insurance may be enough, and the Social Insurance Bank (SVB) handles that question. People who work only for an EU institution are covered by the EU's own scheme instead [1]. International students should check their situation, since some must take out Dutch insurance and some don't [1].

Your GP: the front door to everything

In the US you might book a dermatologist or an orthopedist yourself. In the Netherlands, that usually doesn't fly. The huisarts (GP) handles most problems directly and sends you on to a specialist or hospital only when needed. That referral matters for your insurance too.

What to know:

1. Register with a GP as soon as you have an address. GPs take patients who live near the practice, and popular Amsterdam practices can have waiting lists. Ask neighbors and coworkers which ones are taking new patients.
2. Expect a phone triage. The assistant (doktersassistent) will often ask a few questions before booking you in.
3. Antibiotics aren't handed out freely. Dutch doctors are known for a "wait and see" approach. If you're used to a quick prescription stateside, it can feel like sticker shock in reverse.
4. English is widely spoken by Amsterdam doctors. If you need care in English, just ask when you register.

After hours: the huisartsenpost

If you get sick in the evening, overnight or on a weekend, your own GP is closed. That's when you call Huisartsenposten Amsterdam, the after-hours GP service [3]:

The service lists four locations [3]:

• CentrumOost: Oosterpark 9, 1091 AC Amsterdam
• Noord: Statenjachtstraat 1, 1034 WR Amsterdam
• West: Jan Tooropstraat 164, 1061 AE Amsterdam
• Zuidoost: Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam

The service says insurance generally covers the visit itself [3]. Some locations keep shorter in-person hours than the phone line, so always call first and go where they tell you.

Emergencies: 112

112 is the Dutch 911 for police, fire and ambulance. Call it for anything life-threatening: chest pain, a serious crash, someone who can't breathe [3]. For non-urgent police matters, the US Consulate lists the Dutch police line, 0900-8844, which has an English option [6].

If you're unsure whether it's an emergency, call the after-hours GP service, and they'll tell you whether to come in, wait for your own GP or head to the hospital.

Hospitals in Amsterdam

Amsterdam's two big hospital groups are Amsterdam UMC, the university medical center, and OLVG. Here's where they are:

Notice that three of the after-hours GP posts share addresses with these hospitals: OLVG Oost, OLVG West and AMC [3][7][8]. That's handy, because if the GP on duty decides you need hospital care, you're already in the building.

A word of warning: you can't usually just walk into a Dutch ER (SEH) the way you might at an American hospital. In most cases you're expected to come via the GP, the after-hours post or an ambulance. Hospital care also counts toward your deductible [2], so the first visit of the year can cost more than you expect.

The American angle

Medicare doesn't come with you

Medicare.gov says Medicare usually doesn't cover health care while you're outside the US, with only rare exceptions [4]. Medicare drug plans don't cover prescriptions bought abroad either [4]. If you're 65 or older and moving here, your Dutch policy is your actual coverage. Whether to keep paying Part B premiums is a separate decision, because of late-enrollment penalties if you ever move back; our guide to Medicare when you live abroad covers it.

Bring your records and prescriptions

• Bring a summary of your medical history and recent test results, ideally in English with generic drug names.
• Bring enough medication to bridge the gap until you're registered with a GP. Some US brand names don't exist here, and some drugs that are over the counter in the States need a prescription in the Netherlands, or the other way around.
• Vaccination records for your kids will matter for school and the Dutch youth health service.

The US Consulate

All consular services in the Netherlands are handled by the US Consulate in Amsterdam at Museumplein 19 [6]. For emergencies involving a US citizen, the embassy lists +31 70 310 2209 (press 3) [6]. Enroll in STEP so the consulate can reach you in a crisis.

Make friends before you need a doctor

Finding a GP who's taking new patients is the single most common question newcomers ask. Members of our community group for Americans in the Netherlands swap tips on practices in their neighborhood, English-speaking dentists and which insurers handle claims smoothly.

Sources

1. Government.nl: When do I need to take out compulsory health insurance?
2. Rijksoverheid: Eigen risico zorgverzekering (in Dutch)
3. Huisartsenposten Amsterdam (English)
4. Medicare.gov: Travel outside the U.S.
5. Government.nl: Standard health insurance
6. US Embassy and Consulate in the Netherlands
7. Amsterdam UMC
8. OLVG

Keep reading

• Dutch health insurance: the basic plan
• BSN and registering in Amsterdam
• Medicare when you live abroad
• Cost of living in Amsterdam vs Boston