Expected cap on cost of dentistry delayed for a year
The expected reduction in the cost of dentistry work in France, such as denture fitting and crowns, has been postponed for a year pending further discussions.
A cap on the cost of such dental procedures was due to come into force in 2018, with - for example - the the threshold for reimbursement of crown placement increasing from €107,5 on 2018 to €120 in 2019, and the maximum price for the placing of ceramic-metal crowns set to be fixed at €550 in 2018, reducing to €510 by 2020.
Crowns are the most common dental procedure in France, according to French news source Le Particulier.
However, Health Minister Agnès Buzyn has now postponed the cap, and patients will have to wait until 2019 to see prices begin to drop.
This delay will allow discussions between Assurance Maladie, dentist-surgeons, and other interested groups to start again in mid-September, “allowing time for new negotiations to be made”, according to Buzyn.
Patients with low incomes who benefit from the Couverture Maladie Universelle Complémentaire (CMU-C) already benefit from caps, which are being revised from from October 1 (the maximum price allowed for a metal crown - for example - will be €250, instead of €230). As of the same date those on incomes slightly above the CMU-C level who are eligible for Aide au paiement d'une complémentaire santé (ACS) will also benefit from the same caps.
