The Confederation of Dental Unions calls on dentists to strike, to denounce the tariff freeze. While conservative care is cheap, prostheses and orthodontics are overpriced.
If you had planned to go to the dentist, you might find the door closed. The National Confederation of Dental Trade Unions (CNSD) calls on liberal dentists to close their practice on February 3. She protests against the freezing of tariffs by the Health Insurance.
Undervalued conservative care
Preventive acts, conservative and undervalued surgical care, charges that are too high for patients who have recourse to prosthetic and orthodontic care: this is what the CNSD denounces. Since 1988, this last category has not been upgraded. The free fees that are added to the cost of prostheses and dental appliances do not compensate for this, and they are the responsibility of the patient. So both parties suffer.
The fault lies with the Health Insurance according to the CNSD. Conservative care is 70% covered by Social Security and fees are subject to an agreement, but the overruns remain the responsibility of the patient. A consultation with a dental surgeon must therefore cost 23 € according to the Health Insurance grid. The prices for care are also fixed: € 28.92 for scaling, € 16.87 for the treatment of cavities and € 81.74 for the devitalization of a molar. Prices too low which no longer take into account the realities according to the CNSD, but the situation is relatively simple since the overruns remain moderate.
Over-budget prostheses and orthodontics
It is in the field of dental prostheses and orthodontics that things get complicated. The Social Security itself recognizes this on its site. “Dental prostheses are covered (…) if they appear on the list of reimbursable acts and services, and are reimbursed at 70% on the basis of so-called liability rates, very often lower than their actual cost. Indeed, unlike consultations and dental care, the price of dental prostheses is free. ”It therefore uses a very derisory“ reimbursement base ”when we observe the prices charged.
The Health Insurance grid reimburses the fitting of a crown on the basis of € 107.50. The Liberal’s tariffs are much higher. A survey conducted in October 2010 through 60 million consumers estimated the cost of such an act at € 547 on average, while observing a differential of € 200 in Paris depending on the arrondissement. At the top of the most expensive cities is Boulogne-Billancourt (Hauts-de-Seine) with an average of € 692, followed by Paris (€ 643) and Aix-en-Provence (€ 614).
The same goes for orthodontic costs: Health Insurance reimburses € 193.50 per semester while the national average stands at € 630. Here again, Boulogne-Billancourt is at the top of the most expensive cities with an average price of € 835 per semester. Grenoble and Paris follow with 769 and 768 € for a semester. The remainder to be paid for the patient is considerable: on average 400 €. And very few dentists follow the price set by Health Insurance. This card, produced by the Sécu shows it well: many are those whose rates represent three times the reimbursement base.
Source: ameli.fr/60 million consumers
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