Doctors’ fees go up in France – and could rise again

From November 1, 2023, the fee to visit your GP (médecin traitant) in France rises from €25 to €26.50. 

The basic rate for seeing most specialists (ENT doctors or gynaecologists, for example) who you visit following a referral from your GP also rise from €30 to €31.50. 

Reimbursements from the state health body Assurance Maladie remain at 70%. 

This means you will be reimbursed 70% x €26.50 for seeing your GP, which gives a refund of €18.55 or €17.55 after the obligatory participation forfaitaire de €1 levy.

The remainder will be picked up by your top-up insurer, within the usual percentages of your policy, if you have one.

These changes are set to apply for at least five years and have been imposed by a règlement arbitral (an arbitration ruling) in the absence of a general agreement on tariff negotiations between the government, state health insurance chiefs and doctors.

The rates will change again if a new convention (agreement on state rates) is achieved following further talks. 

Some doctors still unsatisfied

A number of GPs are dissatisfied with the ruling and are reported to have already raised their fees independently, in some cases to €30. 

This is the minimum that doctors’ organisations had requested. They say this is needed to cover inflation since their tariffs have not been increased since 2017.

Such action carries the risk of fines or even of having the doctor’s agreement with social security cancelled. 

If your GP does raise fees like this you may in some cases have to meet more of the bill since mutuelles only reimburse based on a percentage of the tarif de convention (state-agreed fixed rate).

Other doctors have formally decided to leave their convention agreements to become part of a small minority of French doctors who operate totally privately. In this case patients are only reimbursed 61 centimes for a visit.

Another change related to fees is the introduction of a special €60 rate for a consultation for a patient who has a recognised long-term health condition (ALD in French) and wishes to meet with a doctor with a view to them becoming their médecin traitant (GP).

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