More than half of specialist doctors charge excess fees, according to the consumer defense association UFC-Que Choisir, which denounced, Thursday February 22, “the soaring cost of care” and its consequences on the health of the poorest people.
According to the associationwhich compiled Health Insurance data, 52.2% of private specialist doctors applied excess fees in 2021, compared to 45.8% five years earlier.
Of the eight specialties taken into account in the study, gynecology is the one which practices the most excesses, with 71.4% of the practitioners concerned. The average excess for gynecologists is 20.60 euros, on a basic consultation set at 30 euros (2022 figures).
Next come ophthalmologists (66.7% above the Health Insurance rate, for an average overrun of 13.80 euros) and anesthesiologists (58.8% are above the Social Security rate, for an average of 13.80 euros). average excess of 10.90 euros).
Higher excesses in Paris
“National averages mask deep territorial inequalities”underlines the UFC-Que Choisir, which notes that a consultation can be “up to 2.5 times more expensive from one department to another”.
Generally speaking, Paris is the champion in all categories of overtaking, followed by the rest of Ile-de-France, the coastal departments of the South (Alpes-Maritimes and Var in particular) and a few departments with large metropolises. , notably the Rhône and the Bas-Rhin.
Among anesthetists, whose prices can vary from one to two across France, the enforceable price of 30 euros is respected in seventeen departments, mainly rural.
On the other hand, “in five departments (Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne, Somme, Haute-Saône), the fees amount to 50 euros or more”points out the association.
Call to condition increases
Due to this growing distance from the conventional rate, the association requests “the closure of access to sector 2 (fee-free) for new arrivals”. For her, new doctors should only have the right to the new system called “Optam”, which authorizes excess fees but under much more controlled conditions than in sector 2. The Optam practitioner has in particular the obligation to keep the conventional fees for part of its patients.
Furthermore, while private doctors are currently negotiating with Health Insurance, the UFC-Que Choisir is asking for “condition” a future increase in the conventional price at “the effective reduction of the remainder payable by users”.
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According to an exclusive survey by the UFC-Que Choisir Consumer Observatory in November 2023, conducted among a representative sample of 1,004 people, 45% of the lowest-income respondents say they struggle to find medical appointments , compared to only 4% of the wealthiest households. According to this survey, 38% of people who consider themselves to be in poor health give up care for financial reasons.