Creation : Group created and launched in February 2020, as part of the complementary healthcare research project.
Composition : 6 regular members
(Lecturer-researchers and post-doctoral students from the Chair and those associated with the Chair); frequent participation of market players (insurers, mutual insurers, professional federations, HR departments, healthcare networks).
Themes : This working group is focusing on analysing the development and operation of the supplementary health insurance (AMC) market in France. AMC, which accounts for 13.4% of healthcare expenditure and constitutes a second tier of cover after compulsory health insurance (AMO), covers more than 95% of the population; €37 billion in contributions are collected under AMC. It is also a sector that has opened up strongly to competition in recent years and has been significantly impacted by changes in prudential regulations. The combination of these factors has led to a concentration of supply. However, this is still characterised by the coexistence of highly heterogeneous players based on contrasting business models and developing different strategies. The result is complex developments in a market that is highly segmented between different categories of beneficiaries. Both public authorities and stakeholders have noted the shortcomings of the way in which this market is regulated (such as inflation in optical expenditure, poor coverage of certain categories of expenditure and persistent inequalities in access to care). The aim of the project is to gain a deeper understanding of this market by analysing the ways in which suppliers compete with each other, the behaviour of demand, and the effects of regulatory reforms on the operation of the market. The micro-economic approach adopted seeks to document the diversity of suppliers and beneficiaries, as well as the organisational details of how the market operates (e.g. the role of intermediaries, marketing channels, etc.), in order to gain a better understanding of the origins of misalignments between supply and demand.
Work organisation :
The topics covered during the various sessions were :
- Organisation and development of the supplementary health insurance market
- Consequences of the high number of mergers in the supplementary health insurance market on the diversity of products offered to insurers
- Functioning and influence of healthcare networks
- Organisation and development of the optics market
Results :
Two GovReg Notes, one on the supplementary health insurance market and the other on the optical market, have been written, as well as a working paper on the elasticity of demand in the health insurance market. In addition, a conference on the future of supplementary health insurance was organised with the main players in the sector in early 2022.
