Prices of mutual insurance: aging of the population, rising health expenses, dental costs… why are they soaring

Mutual health insurance companies plan an increase of 6% on average in their contributions for 2025 after 8.1% in 2024. “Aging of the population, access to new treatments and medical technologies, and better recognition of health professions explain these trend developments on the rise”, notably justified the Mutualité Française in a press release. These forecasts cover 41 mutual societies representing 19.9 million people. They do not cover the entire complementary health insurance market, but give a good approximation.

A “structural” increase in health spending

Individual contracts, taken out in particular by retirees, “will increase on average by 5.3%”, and compulsory collective contracts, covering employees via their company, “by 7.3% on average”. Optional collective contracts will increase “by 6.8%”, details the Mutuality. This overall increase of around 6% will follow the record increase in 2024 (+ 8.1%), after + 4.7% in 2023, and + 3.4% in 2022, and will remain far from 2.6%. % recorded on average over the previous 10 years (2.6%).

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For the Mutuality, the announced increase is “inevitable”, due to an aging of the population of which we are only seeing the first effects. In 10 years, the population over 65 has increased by 26% and this is expected to continue to increase over several decades. But the increase in contributions is also linked to the “structural” increase in health spending in France, i.e. + 5.2% in 2023. New spending which could amount to more than 1.6 billion in the years to come, according to the Mutuality. Added to this structural effect is a greater participation of complementary health insurance in the financing of certain expenses, such as dental costs. La Mutualité called on all health stakeholders to come around the table to try to better control the growth in spending in the sector. “It is becoming urgent to think about the social protection budget in France in a global and long-term way,” it is specified in the press release.

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The new increase in prices will in any case fuel criticism against complementary health insurance, accused by some of pushing the dose a little. A senatorial report estimated that in 2024, the trend increase in health spending should have resulted in an increase of “4.5% to 6.5%”, and not 8.1%. In their defense, complementary health insurance will be able to brandish figures published Wednesday by Drees, the statistical service of social ministries. For the first time since 2011, supplementary health insurance, all families combined, were in slight “technical loss” in 2023, with their expenses exceeding the contributions collected by 0.4%. Over their entire activity, the net profit of complementary health insurance stood at 3.4% of contributions in 2023, compared to 3.5% in 2024.

Possible “adjustments” to come

The Mutuality has published its figures despite the unknown which still remains on the health expenses payable by supplementary workers in 2025, due to the absence of a Social Security budget. In the draft budget presented by Michel Barnier's government, complementary health insurance had to increase their share in the reimbursement of medical consultations and medications, so that Health Insurance could save around a billion euros. If this increase ultimately did not take place, due to the absence of a Social Security budget, there would be downward “adjustments” for contributions.