The Minister of Health Aurlien Rousseau asked the three main families of supplementary health insurance (mutual societies, insurers, provident institution) on Friday to limit increases in contributions for 2024.
The French should not be the adjustment variable for supplementary health insurance, it was indicated to the cabinet of Aurlien Rousseau, after frank and extensive exchanges between the minister and the three federations of supplementary health insurance, the Mutualit Franaise (fédrant mutualist status companies), France Assureurs (insurance companies) and CTIP (joint institutions)
The Minister of Health can explain increases of 5 to 7%, but no more, indicated the same source. It is up to complementary health insurance companies as economic players to be able to limit increases; there are levers available, we added.
Between 8% and 12%?
Supplementary health insurance companies, which reimburse care with Health Insurance, want to make substantial price increases for the year 2024. These increases are generally estimated by experts between 8 and 12%.
La Mutualité Française, which brings together supplementary health insurance with mutualist status, will publish a first indication of the increases next week. On Friday, Florence Lustman, the president of France Assureurs, considered that increases were necessary to preserve the economic balance of supplementary workers, in a context of inexorable increases in health spending. In 2021, the supplementaries were just reaching technical balance, according to the own figures of the DREES (the statistical department of social ministers), she told AFP after the meeting with Aurlien Rousseau.
Health spending is growing faster than national wealth, and it is accelerating
Since then, benefits have increased faster than contributions, she said, citing an increase in the risk of the French in the field of health. Health spending is increasing faster than national wealth, and this is accelerating, confirmed Eric Chenut, the president of the French Mutuality. So we need to devote more resources to them, he said.
The State, Health Insurance and supplementary health insurance have a common responsibility and must work together to invest in particular in prevention, he said.
For its part, the State is targeting in particular the operating expenses of supplementary health insurance, which it finds too high. There is a lack of proactivity or an inability of certain actors to regulate management costs which raises questions for us, those close to the minister said. According to the DREES, complementary health insurance companies keep around 20% of the money they collect to ensure their operation. This share has been stable since 2015.
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