Things will be clearer and simpler.
From January 1, 2021, when you go to an emergency department, without needing to be hospitalized, a flat-rate bill of 18 euros will be issued when you leave.
It will be sent to your complementary health insurance and must be covered if you have a "responsible" contract.
If you cannot provide proof of additional health coverage, the invoice will be delivered to you personally.
This universal package which appears in the Social Security financing bill for 2021, unveiled on Tuesday and spotted by Les Echos, begins to make noise on social networks where some denounce - wrongly - a new charge for patients or a measure to dissuade emergency calls.
"This is a simplification measure", pleads the Ministry of Health.
This package replaces the user fee billed today each time you go to the emergency room and the amount of which varies with the services received.
On average, the ministry calculated, this ticket owed by the patient and sometimes billed several weeks after treatment, amounts to 19 euros in the public, 20 euros in the private sector.
The package has been set at 18 euros for all.
Knowing that 95% of French people have complementary health insurance, this package will be largely covered.
Beneficiaries of the Solidarity Supplementary Health or State Medical Aid will be exempt from it.
The "costly care package" disappears
A "reduced package" of 8 euros is provided for patients hitherto exempt from co-payments, such as pregnant women and the 12 million French people with long-term illness (ALD).
This provision annoys France asso santé (FAS), which brings together more than fifty patient associations.
"The introduction of the package does not bother us," explains Féreuze Aziza, technical advisor for health insurance at FAS.
On the other hand, imposing a flat rate, even of 8 euros, on those who were exempt from user fees is a step backwards.
We will support an amendment so that ALDs are not penalized.
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The ministry argues that only 8% of people with ALD going to the emergency room without being hospitalized consult for a reason related to their pathology and are therefore not subject to user fees.
"With this reduced package, the average cost for people in ALD will drop by 32%", assures Thomas Mesnier, deputy (LREM) of Charente and general rapporteur of the Committee on Social Affairs at the National Assembly which will examine the PLFSS from October 13.
Another novelty: if during his visit to the emergency room a patient benefits from biology or radiology procedures the cost of which exceeds 120 euros, the hospital now charges him a "fixed price for expensive care" of 24 euros.
This package disappears and on January 1, this patient will not pay more than 18 euros.
“This measure will also make it possible to remedy the problem of unpaid debts, adds Thomas Mesnier, because only 30% of the invoices linked to the user fee for emergencies are now collected.
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