Squeeze for French doctors and drugs, as health insurance fund shows muscle

The board of the French national union of health insurance funds (Uncam) has set out its recommendations to its director, Frederic van Roekeghem, on the progress of talks with doctors over the extent of spending on fees and treatments through 2006. Fee increases adopted by Uncam in 2005 in favor of doctors, will result in increased pay-ments of 260.0 million euros ($315.1 million) in 2006 .

The room for maneuver in current talks is constrained by financial limits set by the French parliament, making independent general practitioners' demands for increases in consultation fees impossible to satisfy. Uncam's board notes that its priority is to avoid any overspending beyond 0.75% of its budgetary targets, as this would trigger an emergency mechanism, whereby automatic cutbacks would kick in.

Running hospitals is the government's job?