Fact about health insurance in France and United States

The health  care systems in France and the United States face a crisis of unprecedented scope. In the United States, uncontrolled health care inflation exacerbates the federal budget deficit, threatens the competitiveness of business and increases the already large number of Americans (some 45 million) without any health insurance. In France, whose health care system has been ranked as No. 1 by WHO in 2000, increasing health care expenditures threaten the sustainability of its national health insurance system.

Policymakers in France and the U.S. could benefit from an understanding of their health systems’ strengths, weaknesses and reform policies. It is for this reason that the Office of Social Affairs, Embassy of France in Washington, supported Professor Victor Rodwin’s initiative to organize a colloquium on the recent health care reforms in France, as well as the publication of this book1. I thank Victor Rodwin for his enthusiasm and for his efforts, over the years, to build bridges between the U.S. and France and to encourage mutual learning on how access to health care and quality may be improved on both sides of the Atlantic.

The People in France, compared to those in other countries, are in good health and are quite satisfied with their health care. Nonetheless, in response to its rising health care expenditures, France, like other developed countries, is attempting to change its health care system. The aim of this essay is to explain how health care was delivered before the current reforms, what problems had developed, what reforms are called for in the 2004 legislation, how they are faring so far, and how they compare to those instituted by France’s neighbors.

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