France Plans Higher Co-Payments for Doctor Visits and Medications

Paris – 23 July 2026: The French government is preparing to double the annual caps on medical co-payments. Health Minister Stéphanie Rist announced on Thursday that insured individuals will in future have to pay up to a total of 200 euros instead of the previous 100 euros in flat-rate contributions and prescription drug deductibles. The announcement particularly affects doctor consultations, laboratory services and reimbursable medications.

Specifically, there are two separate caps. The medical deductible for medications, services provided by non-physician health professionals and medical transport is currently subject to an annual maximum of 50 euros per person. In addition, there is a flat-rate out-of-pocket contribution for doctor appointments, medical examinations and biological analyses, also capped at 50 euros. Both limits are to rise to 100 euros each.

This would increase the maximum possible burden from these two instruments to 200 euros per calendar year. The government points out that the caps have not been adjusted for around twenty years. Rist presented the measure on radio station RMC as part of a reorganization of health financing. The announcement did not provide further details on the exact date of entry into force or the legal implementation.

The regulation does not affect all insured persons equally. Those exempt from the medical deductible include minors, recipients of complementary solidarity health insurance, recipients of state medical aid, and pregnant women from the sixth month of pregnancy until twelve days after giving birth. Special rules also apply to certain services and treatments. Private supplementary insurance generally does not cover these statutory co-payments.

The financial significance primarily concerns people requiring regular treatment. The state research body Drees notes that raising the annual cap concentrates costs more heavily on older households and people in poor health. These groups reach the maximum amount more often than other insured persons. A higher cap therefore changes not only total health insurance revenue, but also the distribution of the burden.

Politically, the proposal follows earlier steps. The amounts per medication package, paramedical service and medical transport were already increased in 2024; however, the annual deductible cap remained unchanged at the time. The reform now announced would therefore not primarily make individual treatments more expensive, but would expand the scope within which health insurance funds can collect co-payments from frequently treated patients.

For the French healthcare system, the issue is institutionally sensitive. Under the state’s interpretation, statutory co-payments are intended to make insured persons contribute to costs, while health insurance finances the overwhelming majority of medically necessary services. Critics of such measures, however, point to access to care for chronically ill people and low-income households. It will therefore be crucial which exemptions and social protection mechanisms the government establishes in the regulatory texts still to come.