Non-urgent medical care abroad Without (financial) surprises
Thinking about going abroad for a cataract treatment or knee surgery? Or do you need dialysis at your holiday destination? Discover what is useful to know in advance and what you should take care of to avoid (financial) surprises.
Wish to know more about contracted and non-contracted care abroad?
Where can you go to?
You can only go to Belgium, Germany or Spain for contracted care abroad. In these 3 countries, Zilveren Kruis has agreements with a number of care providers about price and the quality of care.
View the list of contracted care providers in Belgium, Germany and Spain (pdf) (in Dutch only)
This is how you arrange care
- Ask your doctor for a referral
Ask your GP or specialist in the Netherlands for a referral with cause of referral. Do this before your 1st appointment with the doctor abroad. This is required by law for non-urgent medical treatment abroad. - Get in touch with the health coach
Are you going to a contracted care provider in Belgium or Germany, then we’ll arrange care abroad for you. Call the health coach for this on workdays between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.: 071 364 02 80.
This is what we reimburse
- The basic insurance reimburses 100%
- The mandatory excess applies if you haven't used it (all) yet
- The personal contribution applies to medical devices, childbirth, obstetric care, certain types of dental care and seated transport
Reimbursement non-urgent medical care abroad (in Dutch only)
Reimbursement expertise treatment abroad (in Dutch only)
Who pays the bill?
- Zilveren Kruis pays the bill directly to the care provider abroad
- If you receive a foreign bill for the personal contribution you can claim the bill with us
Where you can go to?
You can go to any non-contracted care provider in any country.
This is how you arrange care
- Ask your doctor in the Netherlands for a referral
Ask your GP or specialist in the Netherlands for a referral with cause of referral. Do this before your 1st appointment with the doctor abroad. This is required by law for non-urgent medical treatment abroad. - Ask the foreign care provider for a treatment plan
a diagnosis with a treatment plan and an estimate of the costs. Preferably in Dutch, English, French, German or Spanish
address of the doctor's clinic
starting date and duration of treatment - You apply for your treatment with us
Fill out the application form for medical treatment abroad (pdf) and send it in.
Within 10 workdays we’ll let you know how much in euro’s we will reimburse. It’s possible that we won’t reimburse the costs.
What you should know about the reimbursement
- Do you have a Basis Budget, Basis Zeker, ZieZo Basis or ZieZo Selectief? You will receive up to 75% of the average contracted tariff (Dutch) for similar care in the Netherlands.
- Do you have a Basis Exclusief? Then you will receive up to 100% of the prevailing market rate in the Netherlands. This doesn’t mean we won’t reimburse the treatment up to 100%.
- Wish to go to a EU, EEA country or Switzerland? And did you receive a S2 guarantee form from us? This will entitle you to the same reimbursements as the locals of that country. You will also pay the same personal contribution.
Before you leave, ask the foreign care provider whether he accepts the S2 guarantee form. Is the answer yes? Give the form to the foreign care provider upon arrival to receive the correct reimbursement. If the foreign care provides doesn’t accept the S2 guarantee form, then you will receive a reimbursement as mentioned under points 1 and 2.
Reimbursement non-urgent medical care abroad (in Dutch only)
Reimbursement expertise treatment abroad (in Dutch only)
Who pays the bill?
- You pay the foreign care provider upfront
- Then claim the bill by filling in the claim form medical costs made abroad (fillable pdf) in Mijn Zilveren Kruis, in the app or by post.
Did you receive a S2 guarantee form from us? And does your foreign care provider accept it? Then we will settle the bill with that care provider.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, just like in the Netherlands you pay an excess for care that is reimbursed from your basic insurance.
Yes, you can. Second opinion is reimbursed from your supplementary insurance. Check out how you can arrange this (in Dutch only).