You must pay the hospital bill or part of it yourself in the following situations:
- to settle up the compulsory deductible or excess amount (eigen risico)
- if the treatment requires you to pay a personal contribution (eigen bijdrage)
- if the treatment qualifies as 'uninsured care'
- if you have not been referred for a hospital appointment (e.g. by your GP or another specialist) and are consulting a hospital physician on your own initiative.
Non-Invasive Prenatal Test
The Non-Invasive Prenatal Test (NIPT) is a blood test to screen pregnant women for the risk that their infant will be born with Down, Edwards or Patau syndrome. Since April 2017, any pregnant woman may choose to undergo an NIPT. The hospital charges a personal contribution of € 175 for this test.
Deductible or excess (eigen risico)
According to the Dutch Health Care Insurance Act, everyone 18 years and older must pay a deductible or excess amount (eigen risico) towards their own medical expenses themselves before their basic compulsory health insurance package covers any further costs. In other words, you yourself pay for part of the care that you receive. In 2020, the compulsory minimum deductible was set at € 385.
You can choose to cover a maximum of € 500 in medical costs voluntarily, on top of the compulsory minimum deductible. In return, your health insurer will lower the monthly insurance premiums that you pay for your basic health insurance package. Remember, however, that you will have to cover up to € 885 of your medical expenses before your insurance company pays for the rest.
Some types of medical care are exempt from the deductible/excess.
Medical care that is exempt from the deductible/excess
- visits to and treatment by your GP (including the out-of-hours medical service, the Huisartsenpost HAP). Note: you will be required to pay the deductible for blood tests that your GP requests from a laboratory
- care during childbirth
- care involving children under the age of 18
- care covered by your additional insurance policy
- care related to chronic conditions (type 2 diabetes, COPD and CVR)
- chain care (care related to chronic conditions delivered by several different care-providers)
- medical aids or devices on loan
- district nursing
- care covered under the Long-term Care Act (Wlz) or the Social Support Act (Wmo)
- kidney and liver donors, post-surgery checkups
- travel expenses for organ donors
- population studies (you might however have to pay deductible/excess if you need follow-up testing)
- stop smoking programme
In addition to the above care, your health insurer can also exempt certain care providers, healthcare programmes, medicines, or medical aids and devices from the deductible requirement. For more information, contact your health insurance company.
Personal contribution (eigen bijdrage)
Besides the deductible/excess, your health insurer may ask you to pay part of the cost of treatment yourself. Whether that is the case and how much you must pay depends on any additional health insurance you take out. That is why you should always take a look at the terms of your insurance policy or contact your health insurance company for information before undergoing treatment.
When will I receive the hospital bill?
You may receive a bill from Maastricht UMC+ if you have had 'uninsured care'. Uninsured care is care that is not covered under the basic health insurance package and that may or may not be covered by your additional health insurance package, depending on the terms of your policy.
No referral? Then you pay the bill yourself
If you wish to consult a specialist or undergo a test at the hospital, you must ask an authorised care professional for a referral. If you ask to consult a specialist without having a referral, then you will receive the bill and must pay it yourself.
Authorised care professionals are:
- GPs
- medical specialists
- sports physicians
- occupational physicians (for work-related complaints only)
- physicians who treat the mentally disabled
- geriatric specialists
- nursing home physicians
- psychiatrists
- A&E physicians
- physician assistants
- dental prosthetists (for referral to an oral surgeon only)
- triage audiologists (for referral to an ENT specialist only)
- optometrists (for referral to an ophthalmologist only)
- municipal health service (GGD) physicians for lab tests (infectious disease control and tuberculosis)
- dentists
- orthodontists
- obstetricians/midwives
- specialist nurses
- clinical audiologists (for referral to an ENT specialist only)
- oral surgeons
- paediatrician and/or doctor working in youth healthcare