The Comité d’alerte de l’Objectif national de dépenses d’assurance maladie (Ondam) has issued its opinion in which it analyzes the anticipated achievement of the Ondam for the previous year (2023) and deduces the consequences for compliance with the target for the current year (2024).
TheCommittee’s opinion notes that spending under the Ondam program will amount to nearly €248 billion in 2023.
Expenditure on outpatient care alone rose by almost 4%, driven in particular by lump-sum payments to doctors (+11%) and medical transport (+8.1%).
Expenditure on healthcare establishments rose even more strongly (+5.6% excluding Covid) than that on outpatient care, reaching €102.8 billion (excluding Covid).
The Comité d’alerte is particularly concerned by the deficit of public hospitals, which could almost double from its 2022 level (€1 billion), and regrets that, despite the increase in allocations, the financial results of public healthcare establishments continue to deteriorate.
This spontaneous growth in spending on outpatient care and healthcare facilities could jeopardize the desired slowdown in Ondam spending.
The Comité d’alerte is therefore calling for “reinforced vigilance” on trends in health insurance expenditure.
In particular, it recommends a precise analysis of the reasons for the recurrent under-activity of healthcare establishments compared with forecasts, as well as ongoing monitoring of the comparative evolution of their activity and staffing levels.
