MonPsy: from Tuesday, consultations with the psychologist reimbursed by the Sécu

The reimbursement by Social Security of eight sessions with the psychologist for all French people, announced in September by Emmanuel Macron, comes into force on Tuesday April 5.

On "doctor's orientation", patients over 3 years old can consult a psychologist listed on the MonPsy website, and benefit from an assessment interview and seven follow-up sessions per year, reimbursed by Health Insurance.

After the session, the patient must send the care sheet to their complementary health insurance: 60% of the costs are covered by the Sécu, and 40% by the complementary health insurance.

The MonPsy device is aimed at French people suffering from depressive and anxiety disorders of "mild to moderate" intensity, according to the platform.

But in the event of “suicidal risks” or appearances of “more severe” disorders, the ministry specifies that the patient will be “directed towards more specialized care”.

More than 1,300 practitioners are candidates for registration on the monpsy.sante.gouv.fr platform on the eve of the launch, the entourage of the Minister of Health Olivier Véran told the press.

"Pure Eyes"

The reform is not unanimous in the profession.

A column published on March 29 in the daily Le Monde calls for a boycott of the device, described as "window dressing".

The signatories, more than 2000 according to the collective of psychologists, consider among other things that the device excludes the most serious disorders and consider the prices insufficient (40 euros the first session, 30 euros the following).

Read alsoWhy psychologists shun reimbursed consultations

The Ministry of Health indicates that the cost calculation took into account the average duration of a session, estimated at “about 40 minutes”.

In September, Emmanuel Macron called for more resources in the sector.

"The pandemic has revealed the importance of the subject of mental health," said the head of state at the time of the announcement of the device.

The ministry has provided an envelope of 50 million euros to finance the system during the year 2022, which corresponds to the care of 200,000 patients.