Halted in the spring by confinement, health spending recorded a sharp increase in July, especially in public hospitals and medical biology laboratories, Health Insurance said on Monday.
Read also: More than 70% of French people consider it normal that health spending is increasing
The rush for coronavirus screening tests is reflected in the figures: reimbursements for medical analyzes have jumped by 31% compared to July 2019, specifies the National Health Insurance Fund (Cnam) in a press release. The expenditure of public health establishments, often lagged by a few months in relation to care, for their part posted a growth of 13%, which could correspond to the epidemic wave of March-April. In addition, daily allowances have also increased by 13%, a sign of the decline in work stoppages since their surge in April (+ 86%).
6.9% increase compared to July 2019
Conversely, health professions which had come to a standstill at the end of March have come out of the doldrums, such as dentists (+ 7%) and medical specialists (+ 5%). However, some still fell slightly, such as general practitioners (-3%) and physiotherapists (-5%).
Overall, spending (seasonally adjusted) increased 6.9% compared to July 2019, for the second month in a row (+ 6% in June). The twelve-month trend has returned to 2.1%, against 1.6% at its lowest in May, still far from the 3.1% reached in February, just before the health crisis.