The reduction in the reimbursement rate by Social Security from 70% to 60% for consultations with a doctor is an "option" being considered, but the terms could be readjusted, the Minister of the Budget indicated on Friday, considering this measure "necessary".
To save money on Social Security expenditure, the Social Security financing bill (PLFSS) for 2025, presented on Thursday, provides for a transfer of charges from Health Insurance to supplementary health insurance set at "one billion euros".
To achieve this, the government plans to lower the reimbursement rate for consultations with doctors and midwives by Health Insurance from 70% to 60%, in order to proportionally increase the share of complementary health insurance (or of the patient if they do not benefit from complementary insurance), called the "moderation ticket".
This figure "is part of the options", confirmed the Minister of the Budget, Laurent Saint-Martin, on RTL.
"What is expected is a transfer of one billion euros." "This could correspond to a change in the moderate ticket from 30% to 40%," but "the parliamentary debate will perhaps lead us to other balances," indicated Thursday, during the presentation of the budget, the Minister of Health Genevieve Darrieussecq.
As this provision falls under regulatory authority (decrees, orders, etc.), the bill does not specifically set out the "operational modalities" of the measure, its date of entry into force, or even the types of consultations concerned (doctors, midwives, dentists, etc.).
In addition to parliamentarians, discussions will take place with "sector representatives" (insurance companies, mutual insurance companies, doctors), according to the government.
Asked whether he "wanted" this change from 70 to 60%, Laurent Saint-Martin answered "yes", describing the measure as "necessary".
The government's objective is "to avoid an even greater slippage in the Social Security accounts. We need mutual insurance companies to be able to take a larger share," he said.
"The remaining cost in our country is one of the lowest of all OECD countries," Ms Darrieussecq justified on Thursday, specifying that the measure will not concern "people with long-term illnesses" or the most precarious, protected by the "complementary health solidarity" (C2S).
But 4% of French people – or 2.5 million people according to IRDES – do not benefit from supplementary health insurance and will see their remaining costs increase.
Furthermore, the measure effectively amounts to making households pay, since this transfer of charges, estimated at around one billion euros by the government, will ultimately be reflected in the prices of supplementary health insurance, which have already seen an increase of around 8% on average in 2024.
Discussions will take place "with supplementary insurers so that this is done as minimally as possible," promised Genevieve Darrieussecq.
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