The Dutch general practitioner (GP) or family doctor (huisarts) is the main link to any specialist or hospital. Students are advised to choose a general practitioner as located in their neighbourhood and to inquire whether he or she can take them as a patient, even before they need to see one. Please note that not all general practitioners are able to take new patients!
If necessary, the general practitioner will give a prescription. Strong medicines are only available on prescription and are prepared at a pharmacy (apotheek).
Chemists (Drogisterij) sell ‘over the counter’ medicines, such as aspirin and cough medicine.
To find a nearby general practitioner, the following websites can be useful:
Independer: huisartsen in Den Haag (Dutch only)
Zorgkaart Nederland: huisartsen in Den Haag (Dutch only)
If students should require dental care, they can call any dentist (tandarts) and they will be referred to the dentist at service that day. It should be possible to find a nearby dentist through the website Tandarts Den Haag (Dutch only).
For urgent dental care in The Hague and surrounding cities during the evening, night, weekend or public holidays, contact Emergency Dentist HMC Westeinde The Hague
For accidents and sudden illnesses requiring immediate attention, students can go to or call the Emergency Service (Spoedeisende Hulp/SEH) of one of the following hospitals in The Hague:
SEH Hagaziekenhuis
Charlotte Jacobslaan 10
2545 AB DEN HAAG
+31 70 210 2060
SEH Hagaziekenhuis
SEH HMC Westeinde
Lijnbaan 32
2512 VA DEN HAAG
+31 70 346 9669
SEH HMC Westeinde
Please note: there is a special General Emergency telephone number 112 for accidents, ambulance, fire brigade and police. After calling this number, students will immediately be connected with the department for emergency services in their city.
For more information on healthcare and insurance, please visit the following websites:
To provide better healthcare for the students, the Royal Conservatoire is affiliated with the following general practitioners, who aim their care especially at (international) students living in The Hague:
The Student Doctors
Shams
Biking Doctors (currently closed for new registrations!)
StudentDoc (not taking new patients till further notice!)
In The Hague and Rijswijk, Arts en Zorg offers healthcare at 8 different locations, such as general practitioners, physiotherapy, pharmacy, etc. For more information: Arts en Zorg (Dutch only).
Students living in The Hague, Rijswijk, Leidschendam-Voorburg, Voorschoten or Wassenaar who urgently need to see a general practitioner during the evening, night, weekend or public holidays, cannot contact their own general practitioner; they should contact Hadoks by phone: (070) 346 9669 and request for an appointment at one of the available locations.
For more information, go to Hadoks
Students may not reside in the Netherlands – even temporarily – unless they are properly insured against the costs of medical treatment. Students must make sure that they have adequate health cover!
International students who are privately insured in their own country should bring with them a statement (in English) describing their health insurance.
International treaty regarding health cover
The Netherlands have signed a treaty regarding health cover with a number of countries. These countries are: all member states of the EU/EEA, Australia, Bosnia, Cape Verde, Croatia, Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Switzerland, Tunisia, and Turkey. This means that if international students fall under the national health insurance scheme of their own country, they will continue to be covered during their study stay in the Netherlands.
Students from the EU/EEA should bring their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) with them to the Netherlands.
With the EHIC, it depends on how students are insured in their home country, how much for certain treatments, and for how long coverage is provided abroad. If a medical treatment is not covered through the EHIC and there is no additional insurance that would pay for the costs, students will have to pay for it themselves. Depending on the treatment or situation, this could possibly result in high medical bills! In addition, coverage of the deductible excess is not included. If students do not have dental coverage through their EHIC, they have to pay for dental treatment themselves. Obviously, the EHIC does not provide coverage for liability, accidents, legal assistance, repatriation, household effects, and travel.
Students from the other countries mentioned above should apply for the appropriate international declaration form from their own country. A photocopy of the form should then be submitted to Zilveren Kruis, which will send a certificate of eligibility to the student.
If students need to claim their medical costs in the Netherlands to Zilveren Kruis, they are advised to submit their claim online.
For more information, please contact:
Zilveren Kruis
Groep Buitenlands Recht
Postbus 650
7300 AR APELDOORN
+31 33 445 6870
gbr@zilverenkruis.nl
Zilveren Kruis: Studying in the Netherlands
Basic healthcare insurance
Important: in the Netherlands, there is a statutory healthcare insurance system. Everyone who is insured under the Long-term Care Act (Wet langdurige zorg/Wlz) scheme must take out a statutory basic healthcare insurance policy (basiszorgverzekering). People are automatically covered by the Wlz if they are resident in the Netherlands or if they are employed in the Netherlands. They are ‘resident’ if they are officially registered on an address in the Netherlands and, if they are non-EU/EEA national, they have a valid residence permit.
Only students who are in the Netherlands solely for study purpose are exempt from the requirement to take out basic healthcare insurance. However, from the moment they start a part-time job (even for just one hour a week), they will have to take out a basic healthcare insurance policy, because they are then no longer just a student, but also an employee!
For students (and employees) of the Royal Conservatoire who are required to take out basic healthcare insurance, it is possible to take part in a collective basic healthcare insurance policy, as concluded by the University of the Arts, The Hague (Hogeschool der Kunsten, Den Haag) with Zilveren Kruis; collectivity/group number: 207000892.
For more information: Zilveren Kruis Students
Received a letter from CAK?
Please note: it might happen that students receive a letter from the government organisation CAK, stating that they have to take a statutory Dutch basic healthcare insurance policy. In that case, students are strongly advised to take action and to follow the guidelines as published on the website of the Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB): SVB: Letter from the CAK.
Zorgverzekeringslijn
The Dutch Zorgverzekeringslijn provides a lot of professional information and advice on health insurance in the Netherlands: Zorgverzekeringslijn
Everyone in the Netherlands who has a basic healthcare insurance policy (basiszorgverzekering) is entitled to apply for a healthcare allowance (zorgtoeslag). This is a monthly payment from the Dutch government to help people with the cost of their healthcare premiums. Whether they are entitled to receive the healthcare allowance depends on their income. Generally speaking, students only have a modest income and, just like low-income groups, they will therefore be entitled to the maximum healthcare allowance. International students may also apply for the healthcare allowance. Applications for the healthcare allowance must be made through the Dutch tax and customs administration (belastingdienst).
For more information and to apply, visit the website of the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration:
Zorgtoeslag
Healthcare allowance
If students are to blame for an accident that injures someone or damages another person’s property, they are responsible in principle for paying all costs that result from the accident. The resulting claim for damages could be very expensive. Students are therefore strongly urged to have liability insurance, which will cover single claims up to €1,250,000. They can arrange for such insurance either in their own country or in the Netherlands.
Insurance to cover the costs of repatriation is also strongly recommended. These means that if students should become seriously ill or die, a family member can be flown to the Netherlands to take them back home.
Finally, students are advised to insure themselves against theft (things sometimes get stolen in student lodgings) and the costs of accidents and legal advice.
More information on other insurance: Study in NL: Other insurances
The Insurance Certificate for Students (ICS) from AON Hewitt, Insure To Study student insurance and the OOM Studying in the Netherlands Insurance cover students who go abroad for study or on an exchange programme. They offer a wide range of cover for medical and urgent dental treatment, special expenses and assistance, accidents, liability, legal assistance and loss of baggage.
For more information, please contact:
AON Student Insurance
Admiraliteitskade 62
3063 ED ROTTERDAM
PO Box 1005
3000 BA ROTTERDAM
+31 10 448 8270
info@aonstudentinsurance.com
aonstudentinsurance.com
Insure To Study
Laan van Nieuw Oost-Indië 133L
2593 BM DEN HAAG
PO Box 97640
2509 GA DEN HAAG
+31 70 205 1860
info@insuretostudy.com
insuretostudy.com
OOM Studying in the Netherlands Insurance
Jan Thijssenweg 2
2289 AA RIJSWIJK ZH
PO Box 3036
2280 GA RIJSWIJK ZH
+31 70 353 2100
info@oomverzekeringen.nl
oominsurance.com
MasterPlan+ insurance package for international students
Since the University of the Arts, The Hague takes its students' health, wellbeing and safety very seriously, it has made a deal with the insurance company Insure To Study (as mentioned above). Insure To Study offers all international students of the University of the Arts, The Hague a special insurance package that covers all relevant aspects: KonCon MasterPlan+
All non-EU/EEA students who start their studies at the University of the Arts, The Hague should receive an email with more information on how to get the MasterPlan+ package.