The draft social security budget, definitively adopted on Tuesday, was largely rewritten by the deputies, who cut a large part of the savings initially planned.
Suspension of pension reform, tax on mutual insurance companies, parental leave… Here are the main measures of the text.
– Suspension of the pension reform –
The bill suspends the move towards raising the legal retirement age to 64 until January 2028. Those born in 1964 would retire at 62 years and 9 months instead of 63, and with 170 quarters of contributions instead of 171.
Its application would then resume with a three-month delay, unless a new pension reform is adopted in the meantime.
The cost is estimated at 100 million euros in 2026 and 1.4 billion in 2027.
– No more freezing social benefits and increasing deductibles –
The highly controversial freeze on retirement pensions and minimum social benefits, which was expected to generate 3 billion euros, has been cancelled.
The government also announced that it would not double medical deductibles by decree, without parliamentary approval, for example on boxes of medicine.
– Birth leave –
Members of Parliament approved the creation of a new birth leave, which would be in addition to existing maternity and paternity leave, for a period of one or two months.
The amount of compensation will be set by decree, but the government has indicated that it will be 70% of net salary in the first month and 60% in the second.
The initial text provided for an entry into force in 2027, but the deputies brought the date forward to January 2026, against the advice of the government which cited technical constraints.
– Capital income –
After much negotiation, the Assembly adopted a compromise between left and right: to raise the generalized social contribution on capital, a tax financing social protection, while reducing the scope of the increase.
The left had passed a measure increasing the tax rate from 9.21% to 10.61%, generating €2.8 billion in revenue. The National Assembly restricted this increase, excluding, among other things, home savings plans (PELs), life insurance policies, and other rental income. This reduced the revenue to €1.5 billion.
– Surcharge on health insurance companies –
Initially thwarted, the government finally succeeded in passing a one-billion-euro exceptional tax on supplementary health insurance, with the support of the Socialists. However, some members of parliament, primarily on the left, are concerned about the ultimate impact on policyholders.
"This one billion tax will ultimately weigh on our fellow citizens," warned the president of the Mutualité, Éric Chenut.
– Deficit –
The increase in the national health insurance spending target (ONDAM) was initially set at 1.61 TP3T. This was deemed far too low by parliamentarians and some stakeholders to cover the necessary spending in both hospitals and outpatient settings.
The government finally passed an amendment raising the target to approximately +3%.
As for the Social Security deficit, it is reduced to 19.4 billion euros in 2026, compared to 23 billion in 2025. But this includes 4.5 billion transferred from the State coffers to those of Social Security, which shifts the problem to the draft finance bill (PLF), according to the right.
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