The announcement was feared by patients: the Minister of Health Geneviève Darrieussecq announced this Monday, November 18 in the Senate that the reimbursement rate for medicines by Social Security will drop by 5% next year, as will the coverage medical consultations.
The “moderation fee”, most often the responsibility of supplementary health insurance, “will only change by 5%” for medical consultations whereas “it was potentially possible to increase it by 10%”, but “in addition , that on medicines will increase by 5%”, said the minister at the opening of the debates on the draft Social Security budget for 2025.
These dereimbursements, which do not appear in the text but will be recorded by ministerial decree, will lead to a “transfer to complementary health insurance” the amount of which “has been reduced from 1.1 billion to 900 million euros,” she said. specified.
The government’s initial project consisted of reducing the cost of medical consultations from 70% to 60%, which will therefore be reimbursed at 65% in the future. For medicines, the three existing reimbursement rates (65%, 30% and 15%) would a priori be lowered in the same proportion.
In addition, to achieve a savings objective of “up to 5 billion euros” on health spending, “we are also considering price reductions for health products amounting to 1.2 billion euros”, as well as “efficiency measures at the hospital” for 600 million and also on city care for 600 million, added GenevièveDarrieussecq.
Spending on medicines slipped by 1.2 billion euros
Already explored during the development of the 2024 budget, the measure, rejected by patients and doctors, was finally dismissed. This time, the French will be called upon to reduce health spending.
Furthermore, the Minister of Health confirmed a “skid” in drug spending this year, “estimated at 1.2 billion euros”, which the government intends to limit after a “dialogue with manufacturers in order to find mechanisms compensation”. The financial contribution of pharmaceutical laboratories, via the sector’s “safeguard clause”, would only be “activated in the event of failure of the approach”, she assured.
His colleague from Public Accounts, Laurent Saint-Martin, then specified that the “different levers” under study should make it possible to “reduce the overrun compared to the trajectory presented” in the Social Security budget to 200 million euros. for 2025.