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Doctors' visits are about to get more expensive in France

The Local France
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Doctors' visits are about to get more expensive in France
Medical Team/Depositphotos

Certain types of medical consultations are about to get pricier in France, with the change in tariff coming into effect from the start of November.

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The price change, announced by the French government on Tuesday, will apply to medical consultations deemed 'complex' or 'very complex', as well as to consultations regarding long-term illnesses. The rates for 'basic' consultations remained unchanged, at €25.

Consultations deemed 'complex' include children aged between three and 12 considered to be at risk of obesity, teenage girls seeking advice on contraception or a preventative consultation about STDs, and babies requiring a paediatric follow-up consultation before their 28th day. These will now cost €46.

In addition, a €16 surcharge will be applied to appointments for asthma, severe eye disease, and infertility.

Meanwhile, preparation for an organ transplant, monitoring cancer, and severe fetal diseases were defined as 'very complex', costing €60.

And consultations linked to a long-term illness, such as Parkinson's disease and other degenerative disorders, will now cost €70 instead of €56. 

The changes are the result of consultation between trade unions and French health insurance bodies, and ensure that doctors will receive fair remuneration for these more complex kinds of consultation. French doctors went on strike last autumn to protest what they said were poor working conditions and major staff shortages.

The good news is that the full cost will not be passed on to the patient. 

No changes have been made to the rate of reimbursement by social security, meaning that 70 percent of the cost will be covered by health insurance for most cases, and those with long-term illnesses will get 100 percent of their money back.

Patients with a 'mutuelle' or extra health insurance plan will be able to access all the above types of consultation for free, while those without this extra coverage will pay €13.80 for a 'complex' consultation or €18 for one classed as 'very complex' after the reimbursement.

 

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