France devotes more than 10% of its GDP to the health sector – to support medical progress and cope with an aging population and to respond to health crises, but not only that. At the end of 2015, the DGS (Directorate General of Health) counted each year, for the 10 to 12 million accidents of everyday life, 4.5 million emergency procedures and 500,000 hospitalizations. To address the lack of medical care in certain geographical areas, and therefore increase the density of coverage in the regions, the law of January 26, 2016 to modernize the French health system made the creation of regional hospital groups mandatory, with the implementation of a shared medical plan and graduated management of patients. Restructuring of the healthcare system seems to be gradually moving towards privatization, with some taking the view that only maternity and gerontology services will be left to the hospital sector. This trend is also accompanied by the arrival of investment funds in private structures, while foreign clinics are setting up in France. The growing demand for care for vulnerable people within a budgetary framework, which is also constrained, is also leading health and social sector professionals to change their way of operating.
Institutions and healthcare professionals, both public and private alike, and the health, pharmaceutical and medical device industries all need to adapt to these deep-seated changes, as must players in the insurance and mutual insurance sectors.
Whether the business is public or private, the law will serve as a valuable remedy for more than one and in more than one area, beyond health law.
