Health insurance group Menzis booked net profit of €215m last year, up five-fold on its 2011 earnings.

Menzis hit the headlines last October when it announced it was cutting health insurance premiums by 50 cents a month.

The central bank estimates the Netherlands’ health insurance companies will make combined profit of €1.4bn over 2012, more than double the 2011 total. Competitor CZ said earlier this year that its 2012 earnings had also gone up by 500%.

Premiums

Health minister Edith Schippers has already said insurers should use their excess profits to cut premiums. Last year, most insurers cut or froze premiums, even though policyholders had to pay an extra €130 per person towards their healthcare bills.

However, Menzis on Monday called on health insurers to set up a joint investment fund to pay for structural reforms within the healthcare sector.

Menzis is prepared to invest €100mto €150m in that fund, chief financial officer Ruben Wenselaar said in a statement.