Mélanie Gomez with AFP / Photo credit: PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP
modified to
08:39, April 17, 2024
The doubling of the fixed contribution (the remainder payable by the insured) on medical consultations will come into force on May 15. Faced with the deterioration of Social Security accounts, the government decided in January to make patients pay a little more for their healthcare consumption.
Soon two euros not reimbursed at the doctor’s office: the doubling of the fixed contribution (the rest payable by the insured) on medical consultations will come into force on May 15, and not in June as initially mentioned, AFP learned from the ‘Health Insurance. Faced with the deterioration of Social Security accounts, the government decided in January to make patients pay a little more for their healthcare consumption, by increasing the portion not reimbursed by Health Insurance and supplementary health insurance.
A first part of the measure came into force on March 31: the “medical franchise” has doubled. Socially insured people pay one euro out of their pocket for each box of medicine or paramedical procedure, compared to 50 cents previously, and four euros per medical transport instead of two. In the event of accumulation of procedures in the same day, the amount cannot, however, exceed four euros of remaining liability per day for medical procedures and eight euros for medical transport.
800 million euros in savings per year
The doubling of the “flat rate contribution”, the remainder payable by policyholders for medical consultations, radiology and biology examinations, was initially announced around June. It will finally come into force on May 15, Health Insurance told AFP, confirming information from the Parisian. From this date, the remaining cost for these services will amount to two euros, compared to one euro today.
So that the people with the greatest need for care are not penalized, the two annual ceilings – one for deductibles, the other for fixed contributions – are maintained at 50 euros each. Excesses and flat-rate reimbursements are not applicable to minors, women on maternity leave and beneficiaries of complementary solidarity health insurance (C2S), the latter having particularly modest incomes. According to the Ministry of Health, these measures should enable savings of 800 million euros per year for Social Security funds.