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by hycaria 2797 days ago
>Most prescribed drugs are reimbursed 100%.

No, that's only for life threatening conditions.[0] You perceive that they are 100% reimbursed, but thats only thanks to private insurances, which are mandatory if you're employed by a firm, but up to you in other cases.

>Glasses, complicated dental procedures, insoles, ... are very little reimbursed.

Yes and it's often quite a surprise to end up paying for dentistry (which is rather expensive) when you already pay a lot for public + private insurances.

>The overall total (drugs+glasses and such) is 62% reimbursed by social security according to the article by vie-publique.fr

In total € I have no doubt. But SS still reimburses about 8 euros for a pair of glasses. That's not 62% of a glasses bill, and the 8 euros for all glass wearers in france do not account for 62% of the SS expenses. The drug reimbursement look that huge but that's only because some people are with lifelong, expensive treatments (1500€ per month for HIV for example) that are fully covered.

In real life, a little portion of people are benefiting from this coverage, and healthy people are prescribed 30% reimbursed medication for mundane affections (I looked up classic treatment for gastroenteritis). So you end up paying with your private insurance (if you took one, which is not guaranteed if you're freelancer for example), or even your own money if you need glasses or a new tooth.

I just want people not to have the wrong idea about how the system works. You're fully covered by society if you're very sick/very poor, that's true, but if you come in France to start a business you probably don't fall in either category and will end up paying a lot (social contributions + through your own money or your private insurance). And private insurance prices are rising 3% per year. Which is to be expected since social security are in the process of unreimbursing many drugs or acts, alas with no cost decrease.

[0]https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F21760