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Emigrating on early retirement: the CAK route is expected to close as of 1 November 2026

Whoever moves to the EU or Switzerland with a Dutch pension arranges their healthcare via the CAK. That door is closing to a crack: as expected, from 1 November only new applicants with AOW, Anw, WAO, WIA or Wajong will be admitted. Early retirement and RVU fall outside it — whoever is already a customer keeps their rights.

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Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.

If you emigrate on early retirement alone to the EU, the EEA (the European Economic Area) or Switzerland, you are expected to no longer be able to insure yourself via the CAK as a new customer as of 1 November 2026. The CAK is the Dutch agency for healthcare abroad. It will then only admit new customers in those countries who receive a statutory benefit. Whoever has only early retirement insures themselves in the country of residence until the AOW, the Dutch state pension, starts.

For many people this is the core of the emigration plan: stop working before the AOW age. And then go with that early retirement or that RVU scheme, a scheme for stopping work early, to Spain, Portugal, France, Germany or Switzerland. Healthcare seemed the least of the problems. You arrange that via the CAK, with an S1 form. With it, your country of residence takes you into the local system. That's precisely the door that's closing to a crack.

What changes at the CAK?

The CAK reports that the rules for the treaty health insurance are changing. New customers living in the EU, the EEA or Switzerland will soon only be entitled to health insurance via the CAK if they receive one of these statutory benefits: AOW, Anw (the survivor's pension from the SVB), WAO, WIA or Wajong.

Whoever has only an early retirement pension or a bridging benefit falls outside it. The CAK names them: early, flexible and optional pensions, a bridging benefit, an RVU benefit, military and railway pensions, and wachtgeld. A company pension taken early doesn't count either. That group has to arrange health insurance themselves in the country of residence, until the moment the AOW starts. Then they register again with the digital form.

The background is European: the institutions have provisionally agreed to an amendment of Annex XI to Regulation 883/2004, the regulation on which the whole treaty entitlement rests.

Who does it apply to, and who not?

The new rule only affects people who meet all three of these conditions:

  • they aren't yet a customer of the CAK;
  • they emigrate or take early retirement on or after the effective date;
  • and they live in or move to an EU/EEA country or Switzerland.

That means three reassurances:

  • If you're already a customer of the CAK on the basis of early retirement, nothing is expected to change: "if you were insured via the CAK before 1 November 2026, that remains so."
  • If you receive AOW (or Anw, WAO, WIA or Wajong), nothing changes either.
  • If you move to a treaty country outside the EU/EEA, an early retirement pension does keep its right to the CAK route there. These are the United Kingdom, Turkey, Morocco, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Cape Verde and Tunisia.

If your country of residence is on no list at all, such as Australia or America, you never had a treaty route anyway and arrange healthcare there separately.

Situation CAK health insurance after 1 November 2026 (expected)
AOW, Anw, WAO, WIA or Wajong, EU/EEA or Switzerland yes
Only early retirement, RVU, OBR or wachtgeld, EU/EEA or Switzerland no, until the AOW starts
Already insured via the CAK before 1 November 2026 yes, unchanged
Early retirement in the UK, Turkey, Morocco or another treaty country outside the EU yes
Partner of someone with a CAK entitlement possibly co-insured
Response from the CAK to a registration letter within 4 weeks
Convenio especial in Spain, under 65 € 60 per month, after 1 year of residence
Convenio especial in Spain, 65 or older € 157 per month, after 1 year of residence

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How certain is the date?

The CAK writes that the change is expected to take effect on 1 November 2026, and that the European institutions have provisionally agreed. That's not formality language you can think away. The date can shift. Until the decision is final, the precise details aren't fixed. So don't count on a postponement, but don't assume either that the door slams shut at midnight on 1 November with nothing to be done about it.

What does this mean for your planning?

If you're in this group, the conversation changes from "which route do I take" to "what does a policy of my own cost, and can I carry that until my AOW age". The CAK itself gives three directions:

  • check whether your partner does have a CAK entitlement and you can be co-insured;
  • look into the social healthcare system of your country of residence;
  • consider private insurance.

Spain shows what such a public alternative looks like. The convenio especial is a scheme with which you buy into the public system for the basic package: € 60 a month if you're under 65, € 157 a month above that. That is only possible after you've lived in Spain for at least one continuous year. So you bridge that first year yourself, and that's exactly the gap that has to be in your budget.

So work out that difference before you pick a date, not after. And if you're already far along in the planning: this is the first question you ask the CAK, not the last. They alone can say whether your situation falls under the old or the new rules.

Do you keep the right to the CAK route, for example because you have AOW? Then you pay a treaty contribution. It depends on your income and on the country factor of your country. Work out what you pay, with countries side by side.

In Vertrekklaar this belongs to the phase Closing down the Netherlands of the journey: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See how the step-by-step plan works.

Shall I remind you?

Enter your departure date. Five months before it, the first day you can register with the CAK, you get one email from me, with the link to the CAK. Nothing else.

I only use your address for this one email. You can unsubscribe with the link at the bottom of it.

What this rests on

The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.

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