This is news that will not help the often difficult relations between the State and mutual societies. According to our information, the public authorities will, as part of the next Social Security budget, request an exceptional contribution of around one billion euros from complementary health insurance, health insurers and welfare institutes.
And this the day after the general policy declaration of François Bayrou who renounced government plans to increase the participation of complementary health insurance in the reimbursement of medical consultations and medications.
This Tuesday morning, on the set of BFMTV-RMC, the Minister of Labor, Health and Solidarity announced the color. “Mutuals have already increased and the State is asking them to return this sum,” explained Catherine Vautrin. Before asking yourself: “Can we let mutual insurance companies increase by an amount that does not have to be compensated since we reimburse absolutely nothing? »
Contracts up 6% on average as of January 1
An exceptional contribution had already been requested at the time of Covid due to the savings made thanks to reduced consumption of care. Some 1.5 billion euros were thus recovered in 2020 and 2021, a situation denounced by mutual insurance companies due to the catch-up of care in the following years.
This sum of one billion that the government intends to recover more or less corresponds to the transfers of charges envisaged in recent months. The Barnier government initially opted for an increase in the co-payment for consultations by 10%, with the portion reimbursed by complementary health insurance increasing from 30% to 40%. A transfer then estimated at 1.1 billion euros.
Subsequently, during the presentation of the PLFSS (social security financing), the executive opted for a reduction in reimbursements by Health Insurance of 5% on consultations and 5% on medications. The bill for complementary health insurance then fell to 900 million euros.
According to the annual study by the French Mutualité published in mid-December, mutual insurance companies have increased their prices on average by 6% in 2025, taking into account the increase in health spending, the explosion in the cost of 100% health care, the revaluation of consultations ( at 30 euros at the general practitioner)… But also these transfers of charges of around a billion euros, even if the complementary health insurance companies did not yet have the details when establishing their 2025 prices.
-A temporary increase in the additional solidarity tax
To recover the amount that has been “unduly” collected, this exceptional contribution would, according to our information, pass through a temporary increase in the Additional Solidarity Tax (TSA), based on contributions and which is used in theory to finance health coverage. universal supplementary health insurance (CMU-C) or complementary health assistance (ACS). It is currently set at 13.27% on so-called solidarity contracts (the vast majority, which comply with a certain number of provisions to combat the Health Insurance deficit), at 20.27% for non-solidarity contracts. responsible and 6.27% for complementary health insurance for farmers and their employees.
The TSA having posted a return on health guarantees of 5.6 billion euros in 2023, its average rate should increase by a little more than two points to release an additional billion euros.
A sum recovered by the State
Such an increase in taxation “would mechanically impact the purchasing power of the French and would be antithetical to the idea of a multi-year construction bringing together the players”, has already warned Éric Chenut, the president of the French Mutualité.
Will policyholders review this billion euros in contributions? The sums recovered will go “to the State which will help to finance the health system”, warned Catherine Vautrin on BFMTV-RMC. Some now fear that supplementary funds, faced with this increase in taxation, will cause contributions to skyrocket further in 2026.
Questioned by us, the Ministry of Health simply indicated that “Catherine Vautrin is firmly committed to ensuring that this contribution from mutual insurance companies is not passed on to the user's price and she will be extremely vigilant about this”.
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