The Citizen Observatory of Remittances in Health, created by the Interassociative Collective on Health (CISS), the company Santéclair and 60 Millions de consommateurs, looked at the reimbursement of medical devices to account for the heterogeneity of rates charged and the weight of the “remainder to be paid” for the patients. “There is a total disconnect between the selling prices charged by professionals and the amounts serving as the basis for reimbursement by health insurance” underlines the observatory.
120 euros reimbursed for a device
“Concretely, for a device with an average price of € 1,500, Social Security reimburses € 120 (compared to € 840 for children under 20) and the patient retains nearly € 1,400 (or 900 € after possible intervention of his complementary health). Amounts to be multiplied by two because, in the majority of cases, it is necessary to fit both ears “.
As a consequence of this low coverage by the Health Insurance according to age, “the fitting rate drops from the age of 20”. A decline which is accentuated among those over 65, who lose the company’s additional cover when they retire.
A price that varies from single to quadruple
For this survey, the Observatory established a database of more than 4,200 quotes covering 7,447 hearing aids. These quotes were requested in 2,000 stores, in all departments. They have found that the same product can be sold up to four times more expensive from store to store since hearing aids are medical devices with no limit on selling prices.
Another shocking practice, the Observatory has noticed that the same model of hearing aid costs 10 to 50% more expensive when it is sold to an insured under the age of 20 (who will be better reimbursed by the security), than when ‘it is sold to an adult over 20 years of age, poorly reimbursed.
Faced with this situation, the members of the Observatory call on the health authorities to completely overhaul the conditions of coverage of reimbursable products and services. Especially since, according to its survey, only 36% of people needing hearing aids actually equip themselves with hearing aids. The others give it up, simply for financial reasons.
