From May 15, 2024, the remainder will double, reveals Le Parisien. Concretely, the patient will have to pay 2 euros, compared to 1 euro currently, for each medical consultation and other x-rays or analyses.
Deterioration of Social Security accounts means that the government resolved, last January, to put more strain on patients’ wallets. The idea: increase the portion not reimbursed, neither by Health Insurance nor by complementary health insurance, also called the remainder payable. And while a decree dated February 16 left the council of the National Union of Health Insurance Funds (Uncam) with the possibility of increasing the patient’s contribution from the current 1 euro to 2, or even 3 euros, Le Parisien reveals this Tuesday that on March 21, a doubling of the patient’s flat-rate contribution was finally approved. Over a year, this measure which will come into force on May 15, and not in June as previously mentioned, should allow the State to save more than 400 million euros.
Young people under the age of 18, pregnant women (from the sixth month of pregnancy and until the twelfth day following childbirth), beneficiaries of complementary health insurance (C2S), those of medical aid from the State (AME), military pension, as well as victims of work accidents or occupational illnesses are however not affected by the measure.
For other patients, any consultation with the treating doctor or a specialist, as well as each biological analysis or radiological examination will be reimbursed 1 euro less compared to today. If your doctor practices third-party payment and you do not advance anything, Le Parisien specifies that the amount of the contribution will be recovered from another reimbursement. In short, it is possible that you continue to pay nothing by going to the doctor, however, the remainder payable by the general practitioner could be subtracted from your reimbursement linked to the purchase of medicines in a pharmacy, for example.
Le Parisien notes, however, that appointments with the dental surgeon, with midwives or medical assistants, such as nurses or speech therapists, as well as surgical interventions will not be subject to this measure. This contribution will also not exceed 4 euros per day per doctor. In addition, it will remain capped at 50 euros per year per person. Please note that the doubling of the remainder is in addition to that of medical deductibles, which came into force on March 31 and which concerns, among other things, boxes of medicine. With these two increases, Health Insurance hopes to save no less than 800 million euros per year.