ABSTRACT
As the United States and other industrialized countries continue their struggles with health care reform, perhaps policymakers should look to France for new approaches. In France, almost universal coverage exists with a uniform benefit plan that follows consumers from job to job, even during periods of unemployment. In this age when many consumers are faced with medical care restrictions and gatekeeping imposed through managed care, the French are able to readily access services such as pharmaceuticals, physical therapy, and even medically prescribed spa treatments, and are also able to have a free choice of office-based physicians and other ancillary services. Even out-of-pocket costs to individuals are capped to reduce potential financial problems. Can the health care system in France provide insights for those interested in health care system reform? This chapter will examine this question by providing an overview of France's health care system, including important historical and political developments associated with its health care system's evolution. To assist in this analysis, France's health care system will be compared and contrasted with those of four similar Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries.
