French Healthcare Reforms
This article was originally published in RAJ Devices
Executive Summary
Reimbursement cuts published
Reimbursement cuts published
The reimbursement cuts proposed by the French healthcare products pricing committee, the Comité Economique des Produits de Santé (CEPS), have been published in the French official journal in a series of four decrees1-4. The cuts will apply to many devices, including:
- bandages and dressings;
- several self-control and self-treatment devices such as those to control blood sugar levels and insulin pumps; and
- beds and associated products, such as mattresses and mattress covers.
The third decree contains a list of products that will no longer be reimbursed, effective from 1 January 2005. Companies have been given until 20 February 2005, 30 days from the date of publication in the Journal Officiel, to respond to the proposed cuts.
Background
Manufacturers supplying devices in France are likely to notice significant changes in hospital spending following the announcement of a major French healthcare reform designed to drastically cut French spending in the healthcare sector5. The government is calling for more efficient buying throughout the healthcare sector and is aiming to increase the proportion of generic products used6.
The World Health Organization's (WHO) survey of healthcare systems in 2000 rated the French healthcare system the best out of the 191 WHO member countries investigated. However, the price of such a prestigious position has been great: by the end of 2004 the estimated healthcare insurance debt was _32 billion, with healthcare expenditure standing at 9% of gross domestic product (GDP)7.
A system of universal healthcare insurance (Couverture Maladie Universelle, CMU) provides 75% of French healthcare funding. Around 10% of the remainder is funded by supplementary insurance, whilst the final proportion is paid for by patients. It was in the light of annual budget deficits in the healthcare sector, and in an attempt to recoup _15 billion by 2007, that Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French health minister, announced the healthcare reforms.
References
1. Journal Officiel de la République Française, No 17, 2004, text 135, 1149
2. Journal Officiel de la République Française, No 17, 2004, text 136, 1154
3. Journal Officiel de la République Française, No 17, 2004, text 137, 1157
4. Journal Officiel de la République Française, No 17, 2004, text 138, 1157
5. Healthcare reform website, www.assurancemaladie.sante.gov.fr
6. French Healthcare Reform: Economic Realities Prompt Departure from the World's Best Healthcare System, PricewaterhouseCoopers, November 2004
7. Euro Observer 6 (2), European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, www.euro.who.int/observatory/publications/20020524_29