With 2021, of changes emerge in terms of health. Whether it is hearing aids, of homeopathy or the protection of patients against refusal of care or some abusive fee overruns, the news is dense at the beginning of the year. We take stock.
Health 2021: Hearing aids will be better reimbursed
At the start of the year, French people with hearing problems will certainly be delighted to hear good news about hearing aids. As part of the presidential promise of “remains at zero charge for the patient », The reform of 100% health entered since 1is January in its last phase for hearing aids.
This new reform aims to reduce situations of foregone treatment by guaranteeing all patients the possibility of obtaining quality equipment exempting them from any remaining charges.
Two categories hearing aids are to be distinguished:
- The hearing aids Class I: they are part of the 100% Health offer and guarantee no out-of-pocket costs for the patient. These entry-level hearing aids will display a price of 950 euros per unit against 1,100 euros in 2020 and will be fully reimbursed by the compulsory plan and complementary health insurance for people over 20 years of age.
- The hearing aids Class II: these are medical devices that are not subject to price regulation and whose sophistication does not allow the patient to be freed from his out-of-pocket expenses. The reimbursement will vary between 400 and 1,700 euros.
To know ! The hearing-aid acoustician must systematically offer the patient at least one 100% Health offer for each ear to be fitted.
Homeopathy will no longer be reimbursed
Granule fans homeopathic they risk grinding their teeth in 2021. After a reduction last year of 15% of the coverage by Social Security of products homeopathy, the delisting is now intended to be full.
Reasoned by the opinion of the High Authority of Health having concluded that there was no proof of effectiveness ofhomeopathy, this new decision defends the idea according to which “national solidarity should only finance drugs whose effectiveness has been demonstrated. “ This reform should make it possible to save nearly 130 million euros per year to Medicare.
But in the current health context, the fervent defenders of the‘homeopathy, grouped together within the HoméoFrance association, do not wish to stop there. Indeed, during the debate on the 2021 Social Security financing bill, they again called for a two-year moratorium on the total delisting of drugs. homeopathic in 2021.
Abusive practices will be penalized
The year 2021 will finally see the strengthening of patient protection through the sanction of abusive medical practices such as denial of discriminatory care and illegal / abusive fee overruns. A decree dated October 4, 2020 has also set the procedure and penalties.
So, if a healthcare professional refuses to provide care to a patient, he is now liable to a fine of 6,856 euros, equivalent to “Maximum amount equal to twice the monthly Social Security ceiling”. And if he operates overruns outside the conventional framework or inappropriate overruns, the practitioner incurs a financial penalty of “Twice the amount of overruns invoiced”.
We can bet that these new measures will better protect the interests and health of patients!
Déborah L., Doctor of Pharmacy
Sources
– Hearing aids: what treatment? ameli.fr. Accessed January 7, 2021.
– De-reimbursement of homeopathic medicines. gouvernement.fr. Accessed January 7, 2021.-