“It’s the system that’s dysfunctional,” denounces an economist

“This supplementary health system is profoundly antisocial”, estimated Tuesday September 26 on franceinfo the economist and president of the Health Institute Frédéric Bizard, while the prices of supplementary health insurance have increased especially for seniors. According to the annual study by Meilleurtaux assurances, a couple aged over 60 pays 3,000 euros for their complementary health insurance in 2023. “It’s the system that’s dysfunctional”regretted the economist.

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franceinfo: Has taking care of yourself become a luxury when you are over 60?
Frédéric Bizard: The Meilleurtaux assurances study reminds us that health is not free. When we suggest that it is your complementary health insurance that pays and not you, there is somewhere a zero-cost remainder which is an illusion. As much as Health Insurance plays a role of social redistribution, because the more money you earn and the more you pay into the Health Insurance pot, complementary health insurance plays a role of social regression: the less money you earn. money and the higher the rate of effort. This supplementary health system is profoundly antisocial.

That’s to say ?
It is the system that is dysfunctional: we have separated the good risks, that is to say the active people, from the less good risks, that is to say the retirees. Seniors pay 100% through individual contracts, and as soon as you have significant out-of-pocket costs, you have additional pressure because you have to add an out-of-pocket amount to this contract. And then on the other side, you have assets, of which 50% of the complementary health insurance is paid by the employer, but with collective contracts which ‘cost a crazy amount of money’ as the President of the Republic would say. It costs 10 billion euros in aid for public authorities, 10 billion for businesses and around 10 billion for households.

But how can we explain these price increases? Supplementary health insurance says in particular that we are witnessing an aging of the population…
Everyone defends their interest, especially the lobbies, that’s normal. Now, when we look at the numbers, this is all wrong. The determining factor is not the aging of the population. Because the aging of the population leads to a very significant increase in expenses linked to long-term conditions reimbursed 100% by Health Insurance, not by mutual insurance companies.

What should we do to rebalance things?
In the insurance economy, there is a basic rule: if you want it to be effective, you have to mix the less good risks with the good risks. If we want an effective system, let’s use mutual societies – which are a strength of the social and solidarity economy – through a system which would supplement and not complement Health Insurance. And above all a system extended to the entire population, with the same rules. Let’s put a public supplement to Social Security and put a private supplementary insurance system on dedicated care baskets.