Health Care in France - Spending

Spending

The French healthcare system was named by the World Health Organization as the best performing system in the world in terms of availability and organization of health care providers . It is a universal health care system, but is not a single-payer system. It features a mix of public and private services, relatively low expenditure, high patient success rates and low mortality rates, and high consumer satisfaction. Its aims are to combine low cost with flexibility of patient choice as well as doctors' autonomy. While 99.9% of the French population is covered, the rising cost of the system has been a source of concern, as has the lack of emergency service in some areas. In 2004, the system underwent a number of reforms, including introduction of the Carte Vitale smart card system, improved treatment of patients with rare diseases, and efforts aimed at reducing medical fraud. While private medical care exists in France, the 75% of doctors who are in the national program provide care free to the patient, with costs being reimbursed from government funds. Like most countries, France faces problems of rising costs of prescription medication, increasing unemployment, and a large aging population.

Expenses related to the healthcare system in France represented 10.5% of the country's GDP and 15.4% of its public expenditures. In 2004, 78.4% of these expenses were paid for by the state.