Chest X-ray rebates scrapped

CERTAIN types of x-ray will no longer receive reimbursements, the French health authority, the assurance maladie, has announced.

Any X-rays of the abdomen and thorax will be at the cost of the patient.

The assurance maladie is acting on recommendations by the Haute Autorité de Santé, which believes these types of x-ray to be either unnecessary or less effective than using an MRI scanner.

X-rays are no longer recommended for the following:

Infections of the airway, high blood pressure, abdominal pain, bowel obstructions, problems with the gall bladder and pancreas and several types of heart condition.

Other types of x-ray will still be reimbursed.

The president of the Fédération Nationale des Médecins Radiologues, Jacques Niney, told Le Figaro that, even if certain x-rays were over-used, the medical opinion of a radiographer was useful in diagnosing cases.

He added that a number of MRI scanners in France were below EU standards.

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