There are more vital cards in circulation than ... the insured. Last fall, in a fact-finding mission that they had started (but not completed), two parliamentarians had questioned the risk of fraud with the vital card in view of the number of cards in circulation. This week, the subject returns to the carpet, carried by right-wing deputies Patrick Hetzel, Pascal Brindeau and Michel Zumkeller. Within the framework of a commission assembled on the subject, they obtained new figures from the director of Social Security whom they were hearing.
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2,600,000 extra vital cards
According to the Director of Social Security, there are currently 58,300,000 vital cards in circulation, for only 55,700,000 potential holders, a difference of 2,600,000. Lower than the estimate given by Health Insurance last October, but a gap that remains significant.
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The reality is lower than forecast thanks to a new calculation which integrates children over 12 years old who can, on request, be allocated a vital card. However, in the overwhelming majority, children are attached to the vital card of their parents.
A risk of fraud?
One question agitates parliamentarians: can these extra cards constitute a risk of fraud in Medicare benefits? Social Security relativizes by recalling that the possession of a vital card does not mean that one necessarily has rights. A card may be unusable.
Every year, Health Insurance carries out checks using data cross-checks with other administrations to verify that the required criteria are met, in particular the fact of having resided in a stable and regular manner in France for at least three months. In total, since the creation of the vital card in 1999, 42 million cards have been invalidated and deactivated.