Bad news for the French wallet at the end of the year. According to a survey by the French Mutualité published on Tuesday, the price of complementary health insurance will jump on average by 8.1% in 2024, an increase not seen in years. For individual contracts, this increase of 7.3% and 9.9% for compulsory collective contracts, taken out by companies for their employees, according to this survey which covers 38 mutual insurance companies.
For several weeks, the government has been concerned about these increases in contributions announced by complementary health insurance for 2024 and the risk of impact on purchasing power. Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau indicated on Friday that if we could “explain” increases “of 5 to 7%”, other increases already announced and up to 12% were “unacceptable”. » The government cannot control the prices of supplementary health insurance and can therefore only call on consumers and businesses to encourage competition.
Health spending up 6%
According to the figures provided by the Mutuality, at least half of the mutual members remain within the framework of +5 to +7% mentioned by the Minister of Health. Half of the holders of an individual or collective contract will have an increase of less than 6.9%, she argued. “Health spending was extremely dynamic in 2023,” explains Eric Chenut, president of Mutualité française. The increase was +6% when we were expecting +3 or +4%. »
The increase is notably fueled by the revaluation of salaries and prices of caregivers, higher consumption of care, or the reduction in reimbursement of dental care by Social Security (from 70% of the price to 60%). More structurally, “health spending has been increasing faster than the wealth produced” for years, underlines Eric Chenut.