Ranked first in efficiency by World Health Organization, the medical care establishment in France is made up of public hospital, private hospital and not-for –profit hospitals and are headed by ministry of health, France. Public hospitals can trace their history back to the Christian era are institutions vital in imparting complex and high standard of patient care. Incorporating high technological systems and research methodologies, these private hospitals utilize endowment funding in turn paid for by health insurance funds.
Private hospitals have private clinics and private health practioners and are required to share medical records with public hospitals for research and to create a medical care commission for furthur evaluation. Not-for-profit institutions are also run by endowment funding, decided annually by national rate manager. Co-operation between the three types of institutions is positive factor that leads to absolute absence of waiting lists for surgeries and adds many more facilities to citizens.
The working population in direct and indirect taxes funds the whole French health care system where an state employee has to pay around 20% of the gross salary and self employed have to pay even more towards social security fund called ‘ securite sociale’ a major part of which is contributed towards health care. All the legal population of France is beneficiary of French Public Health Insurance System (PHIS) and have the freedom of choosing public or private physician.
The costs incurred are paid directly by the patients to the physician and are reimbursed by insurance agency later. Most insurance are financed by Employee and employers jointly and managed by employers and Union federations for which state government sets tariffs. About 10% of people have income below threshold level and are entitled to CMU (Couverture Maladie Universelle) benefit. CMU ensures access to medical help to all segments of the society by providing insurance, which covers huge reimbursements.
General Health Insurance Scheme (regime general) covers up the key populations of France including employees in commerce, mining and agriculture and along with it majority of population has supplemental insurance for the costs not borne by PHIS. The government and the French physicians have been in taxing relations for past some time now. The French government provides special patient rights wherein the individual has to be registered with a general physician and can be referred only through him to a specialist.
The cost of treatment provided, freedom of medical prescription and choices of diagnostics are issues of constant debate between the private physicians and the state. Though the medical education is free for French physicians as the government arranges for the same and also the malpractice fees is very low, but the financial outcomes of private practice are not very lucrative limiting to 1/3 rd as compared to their counterparts in other European and American nations aggravating friction between two parties . Public physicians have complaints of limiting clinical practice.
In absence of insurance coverage for legal citizens, American health care system is considered an expensive option and survey reports many citizens avoiding the physician visit for the same. There is no maximum limit set for treatment and physician’s fees and patient have to bear the costs of diagnostics as well as the treatment. French health care provides free treatment for terminally ill, which means serious the nature of disease, lesser the costs an individual would attend to and all the state policies are made with view to lessen the expenditure involved.
In contrast American government does not cover up for the serious health hazards. On basis of various reports and surveys, The American health care system is more often advised to incorporate an effective insurance scheme for citizens and limiting the treatment costs.
References • Simone Sandier, Valerie Paris, and Dominique Polton: 2004: healthcare systems in transition • Victor . G . Rodwin:2005: Health care system under French National Insurance, a lesson for health reform in the USA • Business week: July 9,2007:French Lesson in health care • Paul V Dutton: Boston Globe:Aug 11 2007: France’s model health care system • The French Embassy.