Faced with the explosion of health spending observed in France in recent years, in particular with the implementation of the 100% health system in 2021, mutuals would consider making cuts in the reimbursements of certain devices linked to dental, hearing and optical care.
A source of expenditure constantly evolving in recent years. To combat the continuous increase in health spending in France, the president of the French mutuality, encompassing the complemented health, campaigned on Friday for the end of the “pseudo-gratuity” of hearing, optical and dental care reimbursements.
“We are in a pseudo-gratuity where people no longer realize how much it costs,” said the latter in an interview with echoes.
100 % health reform in the viewfinder
The boss of the French Mutuality has pointed out the 100% health reform set up in 2021 by Emmanuel Macron to facilitate access to care via fully reimbursed quality equipment of certain glasses, dental prostheses and hearing aids.
This device has thus mechanically exploded the expenses of mutuals in France with a real boom in demand, explained by an aging of the French population and by the arrival of new treatments or technologies.
According to figures from the French mutuality, reimbursements linked to hearing prostheses increased by 45 % in two years and those linked to the optics of almost 20 % over the same period.
Several concrete measures to study mutuals
To stem this cost increase, the French mutuality has made several concrete proposals, such as repaying glasses every three years, against two currently. In the same line, Éric Chenut suggested fully repaying the change of hearing aid every five years, against four years now.
Another track mentioned: the reimbursement of a glasses could soon be capped at 30 euros, against 100 euros today.
The other possibilities put on the table by mutuals would be the decline in certain reimbursement ceilings, an extension of deadlines between two reimbursements or an exclusion of reimbursements for certain expensive models.
Private insurers, representing approximately a third of the complementary health market, would be in favor of these various changes according to the specialized newspaper.
A target of 20 % saving
According to data from the Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (DREES) published in 2024, health expenses jumped 20% in France between 2019 and 2023 to 11.5% of national GDP.
This figure agrees with the elements put forward by the French mutuality, namely that health expenses increased by 4.3% in 2022 and 6.4% in 2023.
This same source has started a 20 % drop in health expenses in the event of implementation of budget cut solutions in dental, hearing and optical reimbursements.
