French Health Spending Rising Again

French health care spending rose significantly in September, after three months of relative decline and a limited increase of 0.1% in August.

The major health fund, the CNAM, reports a 0.7% increase for September to 33.2 billion French francs ($6.38 billion), bringing total spending for the first nine months of this year to 299.5 billion francs, or a rise of 1% over the 12 months to September 1993. The CNAM says the rise reflects an increase in payments to public-sector hospitals and a sharp increase in spending on out-patient treatment.