Health Expense Control; The French Way

2 October 1994

Although France has probably not set the best example of controlling health care costs or developing its pharmaceutical industry for quite some time, in the past year or so there have been real changes, Bernard Lemoine, director general of the French drug industry association SNIP, told delegates at the recent 17th Assembly of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association in Malmo, Sweden.

Until recently, he said, in France there has been no true financial responsibility of those concerned in creating medical costs, as all medical "acts" are paid for, with 100% of the population covered by the social security system, and more than 80% of all French households have complementary insurance that usually reimburses the portion of health care costs not refunded by social security.

The result of this has been health care financing deficits, which thus far the government has financed by regular and very substantial increases in employee contributions, Mr Lemoine noted, and by accounting measures such as instituting an overall budget for each hospital or, in the case of drugs, government price controls (leading to low, frozen prices) and cuts in drug reimbursement rates.

This article is accessible to registered users, to continue reading please register for free.  A free trial will give you access to exclusive features, interviews, round-ups and commentary from the sharpest minds in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology space for a week. If you are already a registered user please login. If your trial has come to an end, you can subscribe here.

Login to your account

Become a subscriber

 

£820

Or £77 per month

Subscribe Now
  • Unfettered access to industry-leading news, commentary and analysis in pharma and biotech.
  • Updates from clinical trials, conferences, M&A, licensing, financing, regulation, patents & legal, executive appointments, commercial strategy and financial results.
  • Daily roundup of key events in pharma and biotech.
  • Monthly in-depth briefings on Boardroom appointments and M&A news.
  • Choose from a cost-effective annual package or a flexible monthly subscription
The Pharma Letter is an extremely useful and valuable Life Sciences service that brings together a daily update on performance people and products. It’s part of the key information for keeping me informed

Chairman, Sanofi Aventis UK





Today's issue

Company Spotlight