How is it organised?

To understand how the French health care system works one first has to take a look at the French health insurance system. This insurance is financed by both employer and employee contributions as well as by personal income tax and it allows 96% of the population to access entirely free health care. The insurance also gives French residents the right to choose between diverse health providers such as general practioners, specialists, public or private hospitals and be reimbursed at a fixed rate for different procedures. On top of the statehealth insurance, 80% of the French population also possesses private supplemental insurance often provided by the employer. This insurance covers extra costs above the fixed rates set by the state for specific treatments.

Health insurance is provided by the government to three major groups of the population: salaried workers and their families, farmers, and artists and business professionals. The types of expenditures by the government include general practitioners' fees, specialists' fees, medical prescriptions, public hospitals, private clinics, nursing professionals and sanitary transportation.

The Ministry of Health organizes the French health system through central, regional and departmental services via two major organizations: General Health Management and Hospital and Healthcare Management.

Hospitals

In France private and public structures coexist and the patients can freely access the different types of hospitals.

- The public institutions include regional hospitals (CHRs) and the local hospitals. The 29 regional hospitals, including 27 teaching and research hospitals, provide specialized care. The local hospitals provide routine healthcare.

- Private institutions can be either profit making or non-profit making. The non-profit institutions are run using the same management system as the public institutions and have the same public service brief.