Patient information on consultation and medical procedures fees

Verified 16 April 2021 - Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister)

Every patient has the right to be informed about the amount of the services and services offered during consultations (prevention, diagnosis, care). This obligation is imposed on healthcare professionals and to health facilities (hospitals or clinics).

Professional

Many health care practitioners are under an obligation to provide information. The information shall cover the consultation rates and, where appropriate, the amount of any overpayment of fees and the conditions for reimbursement by the sickness insurance bodies. The display shall be carried out in the practitioner's waiting room. The provision of information is free of charge. In the event of a dispute, the patient may take either the CPAM: titleContent, or the Departmental Medical Association.

This obligation applies to the following healthcare professionals:

  • Doctors, dental surgeons, midwives
  • Nurses
  • Physical therapists and podiatrists
  • Occupational therapists, psychomotor therapists
  • Speech therapists, speech therapists
  • Medical electroradiology manipulators
  • Audioprosthetists, opticians, eyewear, prosthetists and orthotists
  • Dietitians

More generally, this obligation to provide information concerns prevention, diagnosis and care activities.

As soon as a patient consults a health professional (doctor, dentist, nurse, surgeon...), the latter is required to indicate the following amounts:

  • Consultation rates, including any amount of fee overruns
  • Amount of the actions he will perform for you (blood tests, placement of a dental implant, home care, glasses...)

A doctor must respond to any request for prior information and explanations of his fees or the cost of treatment.

Healthcare professionals practicing in a liberal capacity must clearly and legibly display the following amounts:

  • Fees
  • Fees for acts and services
  • Fee for reimbursement by health insurance

The practitioner must also clearly indicate whether he is practicing sector 1 or sector 2.

This display must be carried out in the practitioner's waiting room.

Beyond a certain amount, information is provided by quotes from health professionals.

The doctor is obliged to explain his fee bill at the patient's request.

Under certain conditions, health professionals are allowed to charge extra fees, i.e. to charge more than the social security rates. This is the case, for example, in the following cases:

To determine the amount of overpayment, the practitioner must be tactful and measured. The patient's financial situation, the practitioner's reputation, the complexity of the procedure and the time required for its execution must be taken into account.

FYI  

a beneficiary of the complementary health solidarity may not be charged for fee overruns. However, he still has to pay an overpayment in case of special requests (examples: consultations outside normal hours or unjustified home visits).

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More than 70 €

If the fees (including overpayment) are greater than €70, the practitioner must provide the patient with written information mentioning the prices of the acts and exceedances. This information must be given to the patient before the procedures are carried out.

Less than €70

If the fees (including overage) are less than €70, or if the act is to be performed at a future sitting, the practitioner remains subject to the obligation to provide information on the amounts and conditions for taking over the acts.

Patient information about the rates of consultations and medical procedures is free.

In addition, no fee may be charged for simple advice or advice given to a patient by telephone or correspondence.

No particular method of payment (bank card, cash, etc.) may be imposed on patients.

In the event of a dispute, the patient may refer to:

  • either the county council of the relevant profession from its domicile,
  • or the director of the local health insurance organization.

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Before the order of the profession concerned

The patient can contact the departmental council of the order concerned. This contact is made by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. The letter must specify in particular the facts alleged against the trader and the name and forename of the trader concerned. Any useful document (order, certificate...) must be attached.

This referral is equivalent to filing a complaint.

The departmental council shall contact the professional concerned within 1 month of receipt of the complaint. He invited him to answer and explain himself.

The departmental council organizes in a 1er time for conciliation. In the event of failure, the complaint is forwarded to the disciplinary authorities of the profession concerned.

In parallel to this procedure, the patient may, depending on the case, bring the matter before the civil or criminal courts.

In front of a primary health insurance fund

The insured person may contact the director of the local health insurance organization by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt. The letter must specify in particular the facts alleged against the trader and the name and forename of the trader concerned. Any useful document (order, certificate...) must be attached.

This referral is equivalent to filing a complaint. The director of the local health insurance body shall inform the professional and may summon him within 1 month of the date of registration of the complaint. Conciliation shall be organized within 3 months of receipt of the complaint by a Joint Committee. This committee is composed of equal numbers of representatives of the territorially competent council of the professional body concerned (e.g. surgeons) and of the local health insurance body.

If conciliation fails, the complaint is transmitted to the ordinary court with a reasoned opinion, i.e. to the national order of the profession concerned.

In the absence of a reaction from the ordinary court within three months, the director of the local health insurance body may impose a financial penalty on the health professional.

Decisions rendered may be challenged before the court.

Who shall I contact

Establishment

A public or private health institution is obliged to inform the patient about the costs of medical consultations and procedures.

The information can be delivered in particular by display in the places where the patients are received. The provision of information is free of charge. Emergency care cannot be overcharged. At the time of discharge, the patient receives a document informing him of the cost of all the benefits received.

The provision of this information concerns both public and private health institutions.

Public health facilities
  • University Regional Hospital Centers (CHRU)
  • Hospital centers (CH)
  • Specialized psychiatric hospitals
  • Army Training Hospitals (HIA)
Private health facilities

These include:

  • Private, not-for-profit health facilities
  • Cancer Centers
  • For-profit institutions (clinics)

For any care taken by a health institution (public or private), the patient receives, at the time of his discharge, a document informing him of the cost of all the benefits received.

This document specifies the following:

  • Share covered by sickness insurance
  • Remaining portion that the patient must pay (which can be taken care of by his mutual if he has one)

The information shall be delivered in the following ways:

  • Posting in patient reception areas
  • Public communication websites. In the latter case, the information posted online can be found on the website of the National Health Insurance Fund (Cnam).

Care provided in health facilities may not be subject to overcharging.

Patient information about the rates of consultations and medical procedures is free.

Simply giving advice or advice to a patient by telephone or mail-in correspondence shall not be subject to a fee.

No particular method of payment (bank card, cash, etc.) may be imposed on patients.

In the event of a dispute, the patient may refer the case to the users' commission.