While policyholders rejoice at the signing of care access contracts by which 9000 doctors undertake to limit the overruns of fees, another news comes to seal their portfolio. Article 45 of the Social Security financing bill (PLFSS) sets the minimum and maximum reimbursements for consultations. According to information from Le Parisien, these reimbursement thresholds will be determined by January 1, 2015 at the latest. optical care and hearing aids, whose reimbursement system was recently pinpointed by the Court of Auditors, could also be affected by this cap. The government thus hopes to put an end to “excessive pricing practices which contribute to the price drift of certain treatments”.
Refusing any “privatization of the system”, Marisol Touraine, Minister of Health, had affirmed in an interview given to Les Echos last September that the complementary would participate in the control of health expenditure. However, she insisted on recalling that her central objective was “to maintain the current level of health insurance coverage of health expenses.”
The Mutuals reacted favorably to this announcement but would like to retain some flexibility. “Overall, it suits us, but we want the thresholds to leave us room for maneuver,” said the Parisian, the president of the French Mutuality, Etienne Caniard.
