Quarter-Century American Expat on French UHC

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Quarter-Century American Expat on French UHC
Editorial Note --

Since France was featured prominently in Michael Moore’s “Sicko” and since the Wikepedia article does not deal with France, “yours truly” decided to call in a favor from an old friend and business associate, Bob Findling, who is an American (BA, Notre Dame & MBA/HBS) who has been living in Paris for the last quarter century (his wife, Veronique, is a native Parisian who, incidentally, works as a psychologist in the French National Health Care System, and their three children (1 in university and 2 in HS) have, of course, been raised in Paris).

Attached is an e-mail containing Bob’s initial comments on the French Health Care System.

AFTER READING BOB FINDLING’S INITIAL COMMENTS ON THE FRENCH HEALTH CARE SYSTEM, PLEASE PRESS “REPLY” TO SUBMIT BY WEDNESDAY EVENING ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE PRESENTED TO BOB. THEY CAN RELATE TO BOB’S COMMENTS OR TO ANY OTHER TOPIC RELATING TO THE FRENCH HEALTH CARE SYSTEM. INCIDENTALLY, BOB CAN PROBABLY ANSWER QUESTIONS ON THE BRITISH HEALTH CARE SYSTEM AS WELL BECAUSE, THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER WITH CSFB AND AIG, HE SPENT 3-4 DAYS/WEEK IN THEIR RESPECTIVE LONDON OFFICES.

FYI, Bob ran International Leasing & Structured Finance in Europe for CS First Boston in the 1980’s & early 1990’s and, when CS tried to move investment banking into its commercial bank & all the FB investment bankers “jumped ship” Bob moved over to run IL & SF in Europe for AIG in the late 1990’s. He now runs his own international leasing firm and his own separate firm that speculates in derivatives.

*****


From: robveron@
To: john@johnkarls.com
Cc:
Subject: Thoughts on French Health Service
Date: 07/13/2007
Time: 11:35 AM EDT
Attachments:

Dear John,

Thank you again for your thoughts last night. They were helpful.

As for the French Health Care system, here are my thoughts, which are by no means authoritative:

The system is definitely universal care for medical and hospitalisation. People are either reimbursed their expenses or they can use a health card called "vital" just as one would use a credit card, but only at a pharmacy. The government fixed-cost doctor consultation is EUR20 and I believe that EUR19 is reimbursed. Teeth (fillings, crowns, etc) are, however, poorly covered as are eyes, except for eye surgeries.

If you are rich, you can go to private clinics, where the price tag is not fixed by the government. This is usually where one gets the best care by the best doctors.

If you are a normal person, you go to your GP and then the GP recommends a specialist to look after your needs. If you do not have a registered GP, then you are repaid less when you see a specialist. The reason is to keep costs down. People in the past would shop around for doctors that gave easy prescriptions and cumulate several visits which needed to be reimbursed.

My GP does not make appointments. If you have a problem, you get a number and sit in the waiting room. Usually with a thick book.

Our experiences at the hospital have been great. The places are clean; the doctors friendly.

The problem one could have here is that the doctors would be inexperienced in a hospital. That is why the French are quick to identify certain hospitals for certain needs. Such and such hospital is good for pediatrics. Another for neo-natal. Another for elderly. This is despite the fact that the hospital is usually multi-service. It is because the doctors in residence are well established in their specialty at such and such a hospital and therefore they make fewer errors. The word of mouth works well here and their waiting rooms are usually full full full.

We had three great baby deliveries in a certain Paris hospital. But the pregnant woman on average had missed her period by only a day. If you suspect that you are pregnant, get on the list. You can always desist later.

My mother in law rues the day that she went to a local hospital for a broken arm and it was poorly re-set by a clueless doctor. That can happen anywhere, but her recourse afterwards was limited. Patients do not really sue here, so doctors are a bit more comfortable generally to treat different diseases.

It is a prestigious profession here to be a doctor. The French, despite what you might hear otherwise, do not make their wallet the most cherished place on earth, so they will go through a grueling scholastic program in order to become a doctor. There are many now who migrate to London to work in private clinics, but this is still a minority.

Not sure if this covers a general overview that you were looking for, but I would be glad to answer any additional questions.

Enjoy your meeting.

Your Friend,

Bob