Move your healthcare to the Netherlands, step by step.
Before you move, when you arrive, and long after: your guide to every step, with sources you can trust.
Checked against official sources · Not medical advice · Your answers stay in your browser
Guides
The detail behind your next steps. Start with the overview: it covers how the system fits together.
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How Dutch healthcare works
The non-Wikipedia version: registration, insurance, your GP as gatekeeper, waiting times, and what to do in common situations.
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Before you move: your health checklist
A personalized list of what to get from your doctor, what to bring, and what to do before you leave.
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Do I need Dutch health insurance?
Work, study, an orientation year, or joining family: how it's decided, and the SVB's role in ambiguous cases.
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Getting surgery in the Netherlands
From your first GP visit to insurance approval, waiting times, second opinions and treatment abroad.
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Medication and prescriptions
Pharmacies, prescriptions from abroad, bringing medication when you move, and what's covered.
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Continuing treatment after moving here
Prescriptions, medical records, devices and finding ongoing care as a new arrival.
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Dental care and orthodontics
Finding a dentist, what insurance pays for adults and children, and braces or aligners.
Coming soon
Words you'll meet
The Dutch terms on your letters, forms and insurance app.
- HuisartsYour GP, and the way in to specialist care
- VerwijzingA referral to a specialist
- MachtigingYour insurer's approval, needed before some treatment
- Eigen risicoThe deductible you pay first, €385 in 2026
- HuisartsenpostThe out-of-hours GP service
- VerloskundigeMidwife, no referral needed
- TandartsDentist; adult care isn't in basic insurance
- BegrotingA written cost estimate before treatment
Never miss a step again.
Zorglane is building a companion that tells you what to do next, right when you need it. Join the waitlist for early access.
Examples of what's coming