France's warning on chronic diseases

Members of the French National Assembly's task force for the evaluation and control of the Social Security financing system (MECSS) has warned about the dire consequences of current government policy concerning the reimbursement of chronic disease patients. One MECSS member, Jean-Pierre Door (Union for a Popular Movement - UMP) said: "we're going to hit the wall" if nothing is changed.

The Social Security program provides 100% coverage of health care costs for 30 long-term conditions, including cancer and diabetes. A report in Les Echos notes that 10 million people, or 15% of the population, are included in the scheme, which accounts for nearly two thirds of all government health care expenditure. Mr Door warned that "they will number 12 million in 2012, 15 million in 2015..."

Previous attempts at reform have been abandoned following a public outcry over a proposal to limit some drugs considered to be non-essential. The only savings now going ahead are to restrict full reimbursement to therapies that are directly connected to the chronic condition and, in the case of patients who recover, to revoke their 100% coverage status. Mr Door described these moves as "cosmetic." Instead, he calls for the replacement of the 100% chronic disease cost coverage to be replaced by an annual means-tested cap on health spending per patient.