Netherlands
While Dutch residents are automatically insured by the government for AWBZ, everyone has to take out their own basic healthcare insurance (basisverzekering), except those under 18 who are automatically covered under their parents' premium. If you don't take out insurance, you risk a fine. Insurers have to offer a universal package for everyone over the age of 18 years, regardless of age or state of health – it's illegal to refuse an application or impose special conditions. In contrast to many other European systems, the Dutch government is responsible for the accessibility and quality of the healthcare system in the Netherlands, but not in charge of its management.
Netherlands
The Netherlands was the third country in the world to have representative government and has been a parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a unitary structure since 1848. Historically, the country has a tradition of pillarisation and a long record of social tolerance, having legalised abortion, prostitution and euthanasia, while maintaining a progressive drug policy. The Netherlands abolished the death penalty in 1870, allowed women's suffrage in 1917 and became the world's first country to legalise same-sex marriage in 2001. It is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. It hosts several intergovernmental organisations and international courts, many of which are centered in The Hague, which is consequently dubbed 'the world's legal capital.' Its mixed-market advanced economy had the thirteenth-highest per capita income globally. One of the world's most prosperous countries, the Netherlands ranks among the highest in international indexes of press freedom, economic freedom, human development, quality of life, as well as happiness. Its strong performance is owed in large part to a generous welfare state that provides universal healthcare, public education and infrastructure, in addition to social benefits. It is also known for its polder model, the country's leading socioeconomic model based on consensus decision-making.