France’s Healthcare System May Go Broke: Report
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France may have one of the best overall healthcare systems in the world, according to the World Health Organisation at least, but the government’s national health insurance policy may be “unaffordable and unsustainable” in the long run, reported Bloomberg Businessweek on Thursday, following a projected budget shortfall of nearly 5.1 billion euros ($6.65 billion) for 2013.
France may have one of the best overall healthcare systems in the world, according to the World Health Organisation at least, but the government’s national health insurance policy may be “unaffordable and unsustainable” in the long run, reported Bloomberg Businessweek on Thursday, following a projected budget shortfall of nearly 5.1 billion euros ($6.65 billion) for 2013.
According to Willy Hodin, who heads Groupe PHR, an umbrella organization for 2,200 French pharmacies, The French healthcare system presently exceeds its budget by billions of euros each year, with homeopathic remedies, support tights, and even taxi rides to the hospital supported by France’s social security system, known as l’assurance maladie.
French taxpayers also subsidise preventive care treatments, such as spa sessions and massages, which while have been greatly beneficial to the recipients, are now looking more like expendable luxuries in the face of rising costs and a weaker economy.
[quote]“Reform is needed fast,” Hodin said to Businessweek. “The most optimistic believe this system can survive another five to six years. The less optimistic don’t think it will last more than three.”[/quote]Related:
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Unlike Spain and Greece, who have dissected benefits from their own health-care systems in an effort to control government spending, French President François Hollande face greater political resistance against making major cuts, especially as most citizens consider the benefits as a basic right, while Hollande had also campaigned last year on greater social welfare.
In a December opinion poll published by Groupe PHR, 46 percent of those surveyed said that government efforts to promote usage of generic, rather than brand-name, drugs was a violation of their freedom.
[quote] “The French are not being realistic,” warned Nicholas Spiro, managing director of Spiro Sovereign Strategy in London. France’s system “is simply unaffordable, unsustainable, and the manner in which it’s financed is a huge burden on the economy,” he added.[/quote]For the moment at least, Hollande has taken a more modest approach to cost-cutting. Despite some opposition, French doctors are now required to reduce the number of drugs they prescribe and to substitute generics for brand-name pharmaceuticals. The government says cuts in the cost of prescription medicines will save €530 million ($702.4 million) in 2013.
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But many French citizens still view no-name drugs with suspicion and demand the real thing. Comparatively, while 96 percent of prescriptions in Germany are filled with generics, the substitution rate in France is just 71 percent; though the government hopes to increase this figure to 85 percent.
Under new rules, patients can also no longer refuse a generic offered by pharmacists unless they’re willing to pay upfront for the pricier alternative. Pharmacists who sell too many branded drugs will also face legal trouble.
Read the full report by Bloomberg BusinessWeek
