In France, UFC-Que Choisir, the consumer association, filed an appeal against the government for “inaction” in terms of access to care. She proposes to limit the excess fees of new doctors, citing an “uncontrolled development” of these excesses. She suggests that new doctors choose between a sector without excesses or the Controlled Pricing Practice Option (Optam), which allows limited excesses. She also calls for the elimination of public aid for doctors practicing overspending outside Optam.
The association wants new doctors to no longer have access to “sector 2”, which allows them to charge more than the conventional rate. She supports her criticism with a study showing that the prices of doctors in sector 2 are higher and more homogeneous when there are no longer conventional rate doctors in a geographical area.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, 53% of specialists were in sector 2 in 2022, compared to 42% in 2012. On the other hand, only 5% of general practitioners used it in 2022. Optam, spared by the UFC- Que Choisir allows doctors to waive conventional fees for some of their patients.
 Sophie de Duiéry
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13/12/2023 | 
