Europe 1 with AFP 15:53 pm, May 22, 2023

The Health Insurance will reduce the coverage of non-urgent medical transport. This decision will apply to so-called scheduled transport, for patients who do not already benefit from an exemption. A painless increase for most employees, covered by complementary health. The latter are opposed to it.

The Health Insurance will reduce its coverage of non-urgent medical transport, from 65% currently to about 50%, according to a decree published over the weekend, despite the opposition of complementary health who will have to compensate for this partial dereimbursement. The text, published Saturday in the Official Journal, provides that "the contribution of the insured to the costs relating to medical transport", currently included in a range of "30 to 40%", will soon increase to a rate of "45 to 55%" which will be set by the Health Insurance.

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This decision will apply to so-called scheduled transport, for patients who do not already benefit from an exemption (chronically ill, pregnant women, disabled ...). The measure aims to "neutralize" the free "urgent medical transport": private ambulances sent at the request of the Samu are indeed 100% supported since January 1, for a cost estimated at 70 million euros per year, according to the impact study of the 2023 budget of the Social Security.

The average out-of-pocket cost will increase to 25 euros

This sum will therefore be passed on to some 12 million scheduled journeys, of which the rest at average expense will increase from 20 to 25 euros, according to government calculations. An increase that will be painless for most of the insured, most of whom are covered by mutual insurance companies, insurance companies and provident institutions. Organizations that were also supposed to benefit from this, since they used to pay for part of the urgent transport.

But the National Union of Complementary Health (Unocam) had opposed it in March, issuing an "unfavorable opinion" because of "doubts about the financial neutrality of the operation". Fear partly justified, because in the meantime the Health Insurance and the ambulance unions have concluded in April an agreement, with an envelope of 340 million euros by 2025 including price increases.