TY - JOUR
T1 - 2018 French dental contracts
T2 - On the road to achieving universal dental health coverage?
AU - Mazevet, Marco E.
AU - Garyga, V.
AU - Mayne, Catherine
AU - Pitts, Nigel B.
AU - Pennington, Mark W.
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - Following the failure of earlier negotiations, the new French Government decided not to go ahead with a unilateral decision to define fees in the dental contracts, and to reopen the negotiations. This in a bid to satisfy the providers' requests, as well as to negotiate Emmanuel Macron's presidential campaign promise of no out-of-pocket expenses on dental prosthetics. The three stakeholders, the National Health Insurance System, Dental Trade Unions and Complementary Health Insurers, started another round of negotiations which lead to an agreement. This new convention, which will be phased in from the 1 st of April 2019, will exclude 90 % of dental procedures from out-of pocket payments for patients. Though economic models were controversial between the stakeholders, this reform is likely to engage France in a system where the dental medical divide is narrowing, quasi-universal dental coverage is achieved and policy making processes are adaptable to the evolution of evidence-based medicine and economic realities. This reform, supported by more than 95 % of the French population, is likely to serve as an example for its impact on: political campaigns; the role of comprehensive data collection systems; economic models; and adaptive policies in order to overcome barriers to reforms.
AB - Following the failure of earlier negotiations, the new French Government decided not to go ahead with a unilateral decision to define fees in the dental contracts, and to reopen the negotiations. This in a bid to satisfy the providers' requests, as well as to negotiate Emmanuel Macron's presidential campaign promise of no out-of-pocket expenses on dental prosthetics. The three stakeholders, the National Health Insurance System, Dental Trade Unions and Complementary Health Insurers, started another round of negotiations which lead to an agreement. This new convention, which will be phased in from the 1 st of April 2019, will exclude 90 % of dental procedures from out-of pocket payments for patients. Though economic models were controversial between the stakeholders, this reform is likely to engage France in a system where the dental medical divide is narrowing, quasi-universal dental coverage is achieved and policy making processes are adaptable to the evolution of evidence-based medicine and economic realities. This reform, supported by more than 95 % of the French population, is likely to serve as an example for its impact on: political campaigns; the role of comprehensive data collection systems; economic models; and adaptive policies in order to overcome barriers to reforms.
KW - Dental health services
KW - Economics
KW - French healthcare system
KW - Health care costs
KW - Mandatory dental insurance
KW - Policy making
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85086399018&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.healthpol.2020.04.016
DO - 10.1016/j.healthpol.2020.04.016
M3 - Article
C2 - 32536470
AN - SCOPUS:85086399018
SN - 0168-8510
VL - 124
SP - 781
EP - 786
JO - HEALTH POLICY
JF - HEALTH POLICY
IS - 8
ER -
