ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief summary of the main changes in the financing and delivery of health care in France over the past twenty years. It presents a brief overview of the main features of the French health care system, which allows a better understanding of the reforms' aims and contents, followed by an assessment of their potential impact. The decree referring to the 'medically driven control of health expenditure' presented a long list of measures concerning different aspects of care: access, supply, quality, prices, and expenditure. Cost-containment measures have targeted the Assurance-maladie rather than considering health care expenditure as a whole. Some of the factors affecting decision-making are contradictory, often in conflict with the decision-makers' objective of balancing finances at the national level. The plan emphasizes the cooperation between public and private facilities, and encourages hospitals to promote alternatives to hospitalization, as well as to develop health care networks with private doctors.
