The prices of the glasses will be framed. The National Assembly voted a measure consisting in setting moderate prices for people located just above the threshold of the CMU.
Many French people complain about the price of glasses. The National Assembly seems to have listened to them. This Friday, October 25, the deputies voted for a measure which aims to limit the prices of glasses and other optical products for households with modest incomes. It is part of the Social Security Financing Bill (PLFSS 2014). A breath of fresh air for low incomes: it is in the field of optics that beneficiaries of complementary health care have to pay the most out of their own pocket.
The measure, which consists of offering optical equipment at moderate prices, already applies to beneficiaries of Universal Health Coverage (CMU). The government wants to “act directly on the prices charged” by opticians by extending it to beneficiaries of assistance for the payment of complementary health insurance (ACS), who have an income below the poverty line
According to the Minister of Health Marisol Touraine, 17% of CMU beneficiaries have access to good quality optical equipment thanks to this law against 11% of ACS beneficiaries. This measure should democratize optical benefits for low-income people, such as retirees. The Minister also declared that she was considering “specific measures for equipping children at a crucial age for learning to read. “
The National Health Insurance Fund, opticians and representatives of complementary health insurance will have to negotiate together. They will set the maximum tariffs to be applied for optical services intended for beneficiaries of this measure. Marisol Touraine has already warned that these negotiations should be successful, otherwise “the government would take its responsibilities. Could this be the end of expensive glasses?
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