Moving to England: health insurance

Healthcare in England is very well organised. This is of course nice to know when you are moving, as your Dutch health insurance is no longer valid when moving abroad. Unless of course you take out international health insurance. But is this really necessary when moving abroad? moving to England? Do you also want to know more about English healthcare? Then read on.

The English health insurance

There is a huge difference between the Dutch basic insurance and the English National Health Service (NHS) health insurance. In England, they do not speak of an insurance obligation, because every resident has the right to free health care. With this principle, you can already see that England works very differently than the Netherlands with regard to the health insurance fund.

National Health Service (NHS)

The UK has two health care systems. The first is the well-known National Health Service (NHS). In addition to this insurance, you can also use a private health insurer, but that is a personal choice.

NHS as a public health insurance

The NHS is run by the state and is mainly funded by taxpayers’ money. In this way, everyone can be provided with basic health insurance with hospital cover. As a Briton, you actually have no medical expenses, because you have free access to primary care. Do you want private insurance? Then you can take it out yourself. Some Britons like to have private insurance too, because they prefer not to have long waiting lists. Unfortunately, the NHS does have this.

Additional private health insurance

The NHS is a free health insurance. This is therefore only a basic insurance. In addition to this health insurance, you can, as explained earlier, take out private insurance. These insurers also cover the additional costs for, for example, the dentist. However, this form of insurance is not very popular among the English and they prefer to use the NHS.

As explained earlier, waiting lists for medical care are very long these days, which is why people are increasingly switching to private care. This way, you can get to a private clinic more quickly.

Dutch health insurance

When you go to live abroad, you cannot remain insured in the Netherlands. Of course, you are insured during holidays in Europe with your European Insurance Card (EHIC), but when you emigrate, different rules apply and you naturally want to continue to be entitled to medical care. The EHIC card is also no longer valid in England after its expiration date. This is of course due to Brexit.

NB!

If you receive a pension or benefit from the Netherlands, the Dutch state remains responsible for you. They are therefore obliged to pay for your healthcare costs.

Practical information

As you have read, living/working abroad is different from living in the Netherlands. Such a different country has always arranged its things differently. There are also different rules for finding a GP or visiting the dentist, for example. You also get an NHS card in England.

General Practitioners

In England, a GP is called a 'general practitioner' (GP). Many of these GPs work in a group practice. These practices are not only larger than Dutch GP practices, but also much more is done by the GP. In the Netherlands, we only go to the GP for check-ups or complaints and are then often referred to a specialist.

In England, not only is everyone entitled to medical care, but they can do so at any time. Whether it is at night or at the weekend, you always have access to care. You can also choose your own GP for the family, so you can register anywhere. Sometimes all family members are patients at one practice and sometimes at different practices.

Dentists

With your NHS card you can also register yourself with the dentist. Minor procedures are free, but more extensive treatments you have to pay for yourself. Dentistry is therefore one of the few things you have to pay for yourself. A private insurer will probably cover these costs.

Benefit

A benefit that you receive in the Netherlands, you may not always take with you abroad. When you move within the European Union, the rules are somewhat more flexible than when you move outside these areas. England has other specific rules due to Brexit, which is why we refer you to the UWV or the relevant municipality if it concerns a social assistance benefit. We do not know your personal situation of course and they can help you better with this.

Which benefit should you definitely not take with you?

There are several benefits that you are not allowed to take with you abroad. These are benefits based on the participation route or any other assistance schemes. That is why we also refer you to the municipality in the case of an assistance benefit. They can of course explain this more clearly. You can also no longer receive a benefit based on the Allowances Act and a Wajong benefit when you live abroad.

There are special exceptions for a Wajong benefit and we would like to refer you to the UWV to see which rules apply to you.

An unemployment benefit

When you emigrate to one of the member states of the European Union (EU), you can take your unemployment benefit with you for up to 3 months. However, England is unfortunately no longer part of the EU and is now only a treaty country. It is best to contact the UWV about this so that they can explain everything to you regarding receiving your unemployment benefit in England.

Pension

In order to receive a pension abroad, you also need to look carefully at what applies to you. For example, this involves looking at how long you have actually worked in the Netherlands. The country you are moving to also has an influence on this. If you have any questions about your pension, it is best to contact your own pension fund or the Social Insurance Bank. https://www.svb.nl/nl/

Finally

As you can read in this article, the health care system in England is very well organized and you don't really have to worry about it. You do have to pay attention to closing everything properly in the Netherlands.

If you have really decided to live in England and have deregistered with the municipality, you should not forget to cancel your health insurance with the Dutch health insurer. If you accidentally remain insured in the Netherlands after your emigration, this can have consequences for your wallet and you do not want this.

Do you have any questions?

Do you have any questions after reading this article? Then you can always read the other articles on our website. Who knows, you might find the answers to your questions there.