France

8 Universal Health Care System FAQs #2

Does France have socialized medicine?
No. Like Canada, they have a national health insurance plan. Most physicians in France are in business for themselves. The government is heavily involved in the administration of the national insurance plans, including the setting of price controls on medical goods and services.

How does the French health care system compare to ours?
There's no contest here. The World Health Organization determined that France has the best overall health care system in the world while we, the United States, ranked a distant 37th. The French can seek care with any physician or at any hospital and unlike the managed care here in the US, there are no networks to worry about. Also, despite the fact that the French make more than twice as many doctor visits per year, and spend more time hospitalized, they spend about half as much as we do, per-capita.

How do the French hold costs down?
They do this through lower prices and by a laser focus on preventive care, especially for those chronic conditions that have been shown to lead to much more severe, and more costly conditions. The lower prices are accomplished through government price controls. They work and the French prove it. (As does Medicare, but that's another story.) As for preventive care, the French have identified 30 health conditions for which all citizens will received full reimbursement. These include both high blood pressure and diabetes. They also reimburse drugs on a tiered system based on the ranked cost effectiveness of the treatments.

Are there long waits for medical care in the French system?
No. According to Ezra Klein, "waiting lines are nearly unknown in France." He attributes this to the national insurance provided to every citizen and the prevalence of supplementary insurance to cover co-payments.

Sources (Ezra Klein, Sick)