Freedom of choice a concern as France adopts mandatory health insurance

An obligation for all companies, no matter their size, to provide complementary health insurance to their workers is part of a much debated jobs bill that the French government is pushing through parliament. An agreement between the parties involved was reached in January, and in early March the bill was presented to the Council of Ministers, France's highest executive body. Last week a session in parliament was dedicated to discuss possible changes to the current law, and more parliamentary debates are scheduled throughout the month of April.hideBut according to AMRAE the obligation to provide insurance coverage to complement the public health services offered by the French state is not something that causes much concern for its members. "Large companies already provide complementary health insurance to their employees, so this is not making members of AMRAE stay awake at night," said Frédéric Lucas, General Secretary of the association. "But it is certainly an issue that we are going to discuss in July in Reims." AMRAE will host in July its second yearly meeting between risk management and human resources professionals. According to Mr Lucas the only real source of concern for large companies resulting from the jobs bill is a recently added clause that could force buyers of collective health insurance to purchase coverage from specific providers, the so-called Institutes de Prévoyance, that are often controlled by unions. "The only thing that could really become an issue is the so-called 'migration clause', which says that a firm needs to move its coverages to a designated insurance company, whatever its legal structure," Mr Lucas said. "But that could end up not being included in the final form of the bill." The controversial proposal has caused much discussion among insurers and brokers who fear exclusion from the market. But opponents to the restrictions received a boost at the end of March when Autorité de la Concurrence, France's competition watchdog, released a note supporting the right of employers to choose their providers of collective health insurance. It recommended that legislators ensure employers have freedom of choice in this regard. For buyers of insurance the new rules will mean thousands of SMEs that currently do not offer complementary health insurance to their workers will have to start providing coverage. As a result of the bill, 3 to 4 million new workers will receive some kind of additional, private-based coverage with the help of their employers. The plan is that workers will pay half the cost of cover, with employers meeting the remainder of the fee. The goal is that all workers in the private sector will have complementary health insurance by January 2016. The fact that millions of new workers will be added to the market in one hit does not raise any capacity fears for AMRAE members, Mr Lucas said. "We are not afraid of a possible lack of coverage, but we do not like the idea of not being able to make a choice about our providers," he said. "If there is no migration clause we will be able to continue to work with our brokers and to manage the risk."

Freedom of choice a concern as France adopts mandatory health insurance

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