ABSTRACT
Healthcare expenditure is divided between medical infrastructure and individual patient management. Total healthcare costs in France amount to roughly 175 billion euros, financed through public health insurance (77%), private insurance (14%), and individual expenditure (9%). The principal expenditures are for hospitalization (44%), community medical, dental and paramedical care (28%), drugs (20%) and miscellaneous resources (8%). The main factors of rising costs are medical progress and aging. More controllable costs include healthcare provision, the level of reimbursement, public education and information, and physician training. France devotes 9.2% of its gross national product to healthcare, compared to 7-8% in Sweden, Germany and the United Kingdom, representing a diference of about 18 billion euros. In France there is a chronic imbalance between resources and expenditure, creating a cumulative budget deficit of about 100 billlion euros. Major efforts must be made to improve efficiency, and it will be necessary to choose between preserving our healthcare system or our financial system. If the latter is prioritized, healthcare will inevitably deteriorate.