Following the 2012 elections in the Netherlands, the new cabinet proposed a change to the way that health insurance premiums are calculated, making them income-dependent. Currently, most people pay around €70 a month for health insurance. Under the proposed system, high earners (those making more than €70,000 a year) would have to pay an average of €482 per month and average earners would pay €140 per month. People on welfare benefits would pay €20 a month, slightly less than what they currently pay. The proposal also included a decrease in tax rates to offset some of the premium for higher-income people.
However, analyses of the proposal found that the middle class would be hardest hit by the change in premiums, leading to a fierce backlash from the Dutch public, health insurers, and the opposition party. Given the strong public resistance to the reforms, the cabinet backed away from the proposal; they have replaced it with a recommendation for increasing income taxes on high earners.
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