Court bans extra charge for GPs
Cpam told that €0.50 “fine” to encourage use of cheaper carte vitale is illegal
HEALTH insurance body Cpam has been banned from charging doctors an extra €0.50 if they use a paper feuille de soins to record healthcare needs rather than a patient’s carte vitale health card.
After a challenge from doctors in Aix-en-Provence, the Conseil d'État, the highest administrative court in France, said the Cpam over-reached its powers by imposing the "fine" which was intended to force doctors to use the much less costly electronic carte vitale.
Using the paper feuille de soins is vastly more expensive than the electronic carte vitale and the Cpams – under the l'Union Nationale des Caisses d'Assurance Maladie - had wanted to slash costs by encouraging doctors and patients to use the electronic card. The Cour des Comptes said cutting out the processing of paper forms could have cut costs by €200 million in 2009.
However, the Conseil d'État said the Cpams had no legal right to make the extra charge.
The electronic carte vitale has been in use for 10 years but 30% of doctors are still not equipped to use it properly. It allows doctors and chemists to send electronic data to the Cpams about patients’ consultations, treatments or drugs and reimbursements.
STORY: Surcharge applied for not using card
STORY: Fine for using feuille de soins
