Uninsured international students with part-time jobs receive fine

Hundreds of international students who have healthcare insurance in their home country have been fined by the Health Care Insurance Board (College voor zorgverzekeringen)for not having a Dutch insurance. They were required to be insured, because they received an income in the Netherlands – for work placements for example.

A couple of hundred of students are affected, says Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad, after having interviewed educational institutions and bailiff companies. The students in question often did not know they had to have insurance when they were doing a work placement or had a job in addition to their studies.

Students from abroad with part-time jobs are required to be insured since 2006’s Health Insurance Act came into effect, NRC writes in its paper edition. These students are entitled to basic insurance because their employers pay compulsory contributions. They do however have to pay for their insurance themselves, even when they have already taken out insurance in their own country.

Uninsured students have only been confronted with this new law since April last year. Since then, the Board has the power to impose fines. The Board is unable to say how many of the 70,000 international students in the Netherlands will be fined. This is because its registration does not include personal details.

“We are, however, aware of this group”, a spokesperson has told the NRC Handelsblad.

The Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) ”recognizes the problem” and is trying to come to a solution together with other educational institutes. The Netherlands Association of Universities of Applied Sciences (HBO Raad) says the focus should be on making information about this issue widely available.