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Internship in the Netherlands and Dutch basic health insurance
When are you required to take out Dutch basic health insurance?
If your internship allowance is at least the Dutch minimum wage that applies to your situation you are considered to be insured under the Dutch Health Insurance Act. This means that you are legally required to take out Dutch basic health insurance. If the internship allowance is less than this minimum wage you are not allowed to take out Dutch basic health insurance.
Take note: Most internship allowances are below the applicable minimum wage. Always check to be sure!
Example 1: You are required to take out Dutch basic health insurance
You are a 24-year old international student and you are doing an internship for 12 hours a week. Your internship allowance is € 500 a month. A standard working week in the company where you are doing your internship is 40 hours. You are required to take out Dutch health insurance because your internship allowance is more than the Dutch minimum wage applicable to this example. The applicable minimum wage in this example is € 478,26 a month (for 12 hrs a week).
For the calculation of the minimum wage that applies to a specific situation, please use the following tool (only available in Dutch).
Example 2: You are not required to take out Dutch basic health insurance
You are a 25- year old international student and you are doing an internship for 28 hours a week. Your internship allowance is € 500 a month. A standard working week in the company is 36 hours. You are not allowed to take out Dutch basic health insurance because your internship allowance is less than the applicable minimum wage, which is € 1239,93 a month.
For the calculation of the minimum wage that applies to a specific situation, please use the following tool (only available in Dutch).
Take note: If you have come to the Netherlands to study and decide to work in addition to your studies or internship, you will be required to take out Dutch basic health insurance, regardless of how many hours you work or how much you earn.
