Not only Vietnam, France's Insurance Fund has been 'running out' for 20 years now

(Baonghean) - France is considered one of the countries with a relatively good social insurance policy. Good here is understood in the sense that the people's benefits are high, payments are made promptly and procedures are quick. However, if we evaluate the balance of the French social insurance fund, many people will be surprised: the "hole" in this country's insurance fund has existed for about 20 years and has accumulated to 156 billion euros.

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The record “deficit” of the French Social Security was 28 billion euros (about 700,000 billion VND) in 2010. This figure is “marked” as a “historical hole” of the French Social Security and is also a bell signaling the risk of a serious imbalance in revenue and expenditure, threatening the stability of an important social welfare mechanism.

If in Vietnam, health insurance is the most mentioned and popular type, in France, there are 4 types of insurance that play an important role in maintaining people's quality of life. They are: Family insurance, old age insurance, health insurance and labor insurance. These 4 types of insurance "cover" all subjects and areas of life.

If the social insurance fund were to “collapse”, it would mean that the most important social welfare policies would be paralyzed. In fact, for the past 20 years, the French social insurance fund has “collapsed” every year and the French government still has to regularly “pay compensation” to maintain this system.

Chart comparing the expected and actual excess of the French social security fund from 2009 to 2014. Source: Le monde

When taking office, French Minister of Health and Social Affairs Marisol Touraine declared that eliminating the “hole” in the Social Security Fund would be a top priority. Each year, the target of reducing the fund deficit is set with a series of measures to control and tighten spending.

Since 2010, the deficit of the French Social Security Fund has shown signs of decreasing. In 2016, the surplus is expected to fall below 10 billion euros - showing that the balancing efforts of the authorities have been clearly effective. What are those measures?

Under President Sarkozy, the French government reduced the fund’s expenditure by reducing the benefits for insured people. Medicines and medical services that are considered to be of low efficiency (based on a set of French criteria) will only receive a subsidized health insurance payment of 15%. President Hollande’s government has taken a controversial and “banana” measure when it approved raising the health insurance spending ceiling by 700 million euros, contributing to reducing the “theoretical” deficit.

Regarding the balancing of revenue and expenditure for social welfare, tobacco taxation has also been actively applied by France. Tobacco prices in France have increased many times in recent years and it is expected that in the near future, the Government of this country will continue to tax rolling tobacco - the choice of smokers with limited budgets. In 2012, France even intended to tax some confectionery products but failed under pressure from businesses.

An insurance card with a magnetic chip used in Phao. Photo: AFP

Although the figures show an impressive trend of reducing the deficit of the French Social Security Fund, they are still not enough to satisfy the public opinion of this country. According to estimates by some agencies, the actual amount of fraud and profiteering from the Social Security Fund each year is about 20 billion euros, even higher than the reported deficit. However, through the assessment, the French Social Security only discovered the amount of violations of less than 1 billion euros.

The agency explained that the number of files that need to be assessed is too large, making it difficult to check each case specifically, and can only be checked randomly or when unusual signs are detected. Forms of fraud and exploitation of the social insurance fund in France are also very diverse and "sophisticated": doctors forge patient signatures on invitations to home visits, medical facilities falsely declare technical services used or even the number of kilometers traveled by ambulances, insurance participants understate their income to receive high benefits while paying low fees, employees take fake sick leave to receive insurance money, etc.

Over the past 10 years, French authorities have dealt with a series of cases of fraud and fund abuse, but they have only been a drop in the bucket. Many companies and organizations have decided to spend their own money to hire "detective" firms to investigate and expose many employees who have committed social welfare fraud. About 2,600 people have been sentenced to prison, and 2,900 health workers have been punished by losing the right to prescribe medical examination and treatment services paid by the Social Security. However, that is still not enough, and it is estimated that it will be 2020 at the earliest before the French Social Security Fund is balanced again. Of course, that is only the most optimistic scenario.

Hai Trieu

(According to French newspaper)