France is consistently rated number one in health care from the World Health Organization to OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).  So we will continue with our project of outlining how other countries approach health care. 

In the months ahead, we will be hearing a lot about socialized medicine and how other countries pay more in taxes for “government run health care.” So, we will look at these systems and post outlines that cover:  management; doctors and hospitals; role of the employer; role of the individual; role of the government; who decides benefits and services; universal coverage (cover everyone); financing and health care insurance premiums.

What seems to be the case in most of these economically developed nations is that they cover everyone; the doctors have private practices; hospitals are both public and private; the government steps in for the poor; employers participate and pay and can add additional coverage for their employees.

In France, health care is funded by workers’ salaries, indirect tax on alcohol and tobacco and direct contribution of all revenue proportional to their income (including retirement pensions and capital revenues).   Individuals and employers often have private insurance to cover the portion the government does not cover, typically 20% of the charges. 

What seems to be the critical difference is that these nations have one common set of benefits that everyone gets no matter if they are employed or their employer size.  Because everyone is covered, the other nations are spared the “eligibility, authorization and referral” paper nightmare we suffer from here in the United States. They have one standard claim form. Everyone knows what is covered.   This would make a huge difference to the practice of American medicine, where physicians’ overhead accounts for over 50% of their income.

Read our factsheet on the French Health Care System

In France, they also treated malpractice claims as we do here in the US. However, they recently abandoned that approach and now instead have moved to an out-of-court , no fault system where the patient brings claims to their region’s government appointed review board, which decides the case and the compensation. Compensation comes from a national compensation fund that gets its money from insurance premiums from doctors and hospitals (Learn more about malpractice around the world).

So, please read on.