Some French people will soon have to get their hands on the wallet to obtain the result of a Covid-19 screening test.
This Tuesday, the Directorate General of Health (DGS) announced new rules governing the management of these samples well known to the French for just under three years.
A decided development “Faced with the improvement in the health situation and the gradual easing of response measures to the epidemic”, and confirmed by a decree published in the Official Journal.
Concretely, until now, the tests were covered 100% by Medicare, whether carried out in the laboratory or in the pharmacy, from the moment the person needing a sample was vaccinated.
As of March 1, significant restrictions are in place: for an RT-PCR test such as an antigen, the potential patient will have to pay an additional charge, which “will be determined according to the health professional issuing the test
”
.
It will thus amount to 30% of the cost if it is carried out by a doctor or a pharmacist, and 40% for a nurse or a masseur-physiotherapist.
"
For the vast majority of policyholders who have additional cover, the remainder will be zero.
“, also specifies the DGS, recalling that the overwhelming majority of French people also have a mutual insurance company which will take care of the 30% to 40% not paid by Medicare.
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However, the samples will remain fully covered by Medicare in many cases.
First, for policyholders covered by the "
solidarity complementary health
".
Then, for the tests of health professionals and those of the most fragile people, at risk of developing a serious form of Covid-19.
This particularly concerns minors, people over the age of 65, people affected by a long-term condition, those targeted by collective screening or even those “
benefiting from an exemption under maternity insurance
”.
A massive cost to public finances
Coverage of limited tests, cessation of reimbursement for non-vaccinated people, end of the isolation of patients, changes in the conditions for obtaining a work stoppage... In recent months, decisions have come to act on normalization of the management of Covid-19.
The demand for tests has also followed a similar trend, with tests becoming increasingly rare.
While several hundred thousand samples were validated every day, until the end of 2022, the authorities now only count a few tens of thousands of tests daily.
A number fell to the lowest since the start of the testing policy, in the summer of 2020.
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The new rules also aim to relieve public finances, by involving complementary companies in taking charge of the tests.
It must be said that Medicare had to take a heavy toll: in 2020, the test campaign had cost between 2.6 and 2.8 billion euros, before jumping to more than 6 billion euros in 2021 Last year, more than 139 million samples were counted, weighing down the slate, which has greatly exceeded ten billion euros since the emergence of the epidemic.