“We call for broad consultation under the aegis of the State,” declares the French Mutualité

Supplementary health insurance with mutual status plans an average increase of 8.1% in their contributions in 2024.

The increase will be unprecedented in years. “We must collectively find the best solutions for our fellow citizens, to guarantee the financing of the health system, for its adaptation, its modernization, but also, the sustainability of its financing in the long term”says Éric Chenut, president of the National Federation of French Mutuality, Tuesday December 19 on franceinfo.

Mutual insurance companies plan an average increase of 8.1% in their contributions in 2024. The increase will be 7.3% on average for individual contracts, and 9.9% on average for compulsory collective contracts, according to a survey by the Mutualité française published on Tuesday. The survey covers 38 mutual societies, which concern 18.7 million people in total.

“We need to adjust contributions to balance” in the face of increased costs

According to Éric Chenut, the president of the National Federation of French Mutuality, it is necessary to increase these contributions, since “the increase in health consumption in 2023 was greater than what we had anticipated. And then in 2024, we decided with Health Insurance, jointly, to invest in the health system to guarantee quality, guarantee the attractiveness of healthcare professions with increases in the remuneration of doctors, paramedics or midwives, psychologists, nurses, etc. All of this costs more. We therefore need to adjust contributions to balance it out.”

“We are non-profit organizations, but we have to be balanced at the end of the year.”

Éric Chenut, president of the National Federation of French Mutuality

at franceinfo

Éric Chenut calls for holding “a message of truth to our fellow citizens: health spending is increasing faster than national wealth, the individual and collective effort that we have to make is more important.” He also calls “to a broad consultation under the aegis of the State, with health insurance, social partners, health professionals, patient associations. So that everyone together, we determine what we give as a mission to the health system, how we finance it in five to ten years.” For Eric Chenut, “this prospective vision” is necessary “otherwise we will have more and more difficulty guaranteeing the sustainability of our solidarity social protection system.”

To avoid such increases every year, the president of the National Federation of Mutualité Française Éric Chenut suggests several avenues. In particular of “working on efficiency, that is to say on prescribing and directing towards the right care at the right time. The fight against fraud. And then, there are perhaps things that need to be addressed that collectively, we question ourselves. There are medications whose medical relevance is not guaranteed. Should we continue to take care of them, reimburse them? We must question ourselves collectively, that does not cannot be an imposed decision. We are calling for democracy and health.”