Medical Technology in France

Technology, which the National Board of Health classifies as "providing inadequate medical services" are prohibited from acquiring public hospitals, and their use in clinics are not eligible for compensation from the national insurance fund. However, refusing to compensate for the use of these technologies, the French state recognizes: the exclusion of the product, "providing inadequate services" covered by insurance from the list does not mean that it is not effective for the treatment of certain diseases. The point is that the government prefers to spend money on compensation for the use of other means, in his opinion more useful with the collective interest.

In general medical services in France are of high quality, but there is their "problem areas." Until recently, most of the French, in principle, there were no problems with fast access to their chosen physician. Today, however, more serious problem "medical nomads": patients who visit a doctor after another, until they put that diagnosis, which they prefer. This phenomenon is, of course, increases costs on the health system. The government responded by increasing the equity of consumers to pay for services, as well as attempts to restrict compensation to doctors.

A significant part of the burden to curb rising costs in the French system, apparently passed on to physicians. French doctor earns an average of 40,000 euros (55,000 dollars) a year. For comparison, in the U.S. the average salary of a general practitioner is 146 000, and the expert - 271 thousand dollars a year. Such a situation can not be unambiguously interpreted as negative (or a clue as to what "should" be a doctor's salary, does not exist), and also low earnings of French doctors partially offset by the following advantages: first, training in medical schools in France, paid by the state, so that, in contrast to their American colleagues, budding doctors are heavily in debt, and, secondly, the French legal system restricts the supply of class actions, which significantly reduces the cost of medical insurance in case of medical errors. The French authorities are also trying to limit the total number of practicing physicians, setting strict quotas for admission to the second year of medical school.

However, the French doctors increasingly to oppose attempts to limit their remuneration in the health insurance system - they recently conducted several strikes and protests. Since the budget problems in the country intensified, proliferation of such conflicts is very likely.