Healthcare in France

Healthcare in France is managed by the French government.  The government pays for  a universal healthcare system. In French it is called protection universelle maladie (Puma). In 2000  the World Health Organization found that France provided the "best overall health care" in the world.

The government runs the health insurance system, which is called the National Fund for Health Insurance. Peoples have to pay 5.25% of  income from work, capital and winnings from gambling and at 3.95% on social security and pensions. People get 70% of most health care costs, and 100% for costly or long-term problems from it.  Most people also have also private health insurance from not-for-profit groups called mutuelles.  That pays for about 3.7% of hospital treatment and 21.9% of the cost of spectacles and prostheses, 18.6% of drugs and 35.9% of dental care.

People have a "Carte Vitale", a smart card with information about their health and their insurance. 

General practitioners run their own small business but get their money from the insurance system.  There are public hospitals -  62% of hospital beds, non-profit independent hospitals (which are linked to the public system) - 14%, and private for-profit hospitals - 24%.  Most are in the French Hospital Federation.

There is a serious shortage of doctors, especially in rural areas.  Nearly 7 million people do not have a GP.  In 2021 there were 318  doctors for 100,000 people, in 2012 there were 325.  

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Category:Healthcare in France