The emblematic measure of the Hollande government, the generalization of third-party payment which should have been put in place from December 1, will not take place.
Computer problems involved
“Computer problems prevented its deployment as planned,” announced the Minister of Health Agnès Buzyn. This revealed to the “Grand Jury” RTL / Le Figaro / LCI that today, no device can connect all doctors to the 500 French health mutuals, which all offer different rights to patients. The generalization of third-party payment is therefore “unrealistic” before 2019 given these “technical problems”.
The generalized third-party payment of the health law adopted on December 1, 2015 was widely controversial.
In practice, if it were put in place, patients would no longer have to advance medical expenses to the doctor and wait for reimbursement by health insurance and complementary health insurance. They just had to present the carte vitale and the mutual insurance card, like in a pharmacy.
The pregnant women and the chronically ill have already been exempted since January 1, 2017. Some of the poorest patients have also been exempted since 2015, i.e. 11 million patients 100% covered by Social Security.
The Minister’s decision was taken after consulting the report of the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (Igas) which she will make public today. “We do not know, today, on the part of complementary mutuals, to ensure that the doctor is reimbursed,” she explained.
Read also:
Finally, third-party payment will (perhaps) be optional
Health: everything that will change on January 1, 2017
Generalized third-party payer: 2 out of 3 French people are in favor of it
