Carnet Santé. A reference to French healthcare
A reference to French healthcare

The system, made legible.

Coverage, costs, cards and care — every mechanism of the French healthcare system, taken apart and explained in plain language. No advocacy. No advice. Just how it works.

One visit, four movements

Full explainer →
MOVEMENT 01€30

You see a GP

The médecin-traitant consultation fee is set nationally — the same in Paris and the Creuse.

MOVEMENT 022s

The card transmits

Your carte Vitale files the claim on the spot. No paper form.

MOVEMENT 03€19

The state repays

Assurance Maladie reimburses 70% of the fee, minus the €2 flat participation, within days.

MOVEMENT 04€9

The mutuelle tops up

Complementary insurance clears the remaining 30%. You are left with the €2.

Start with the mechanisms

Featured entries
02 · Funding & Costs

Who Pays for a Doctor's Visit in France

A €30 consultation, settled three ways — by the state, your mutuelle, and you.

3 min read → 01 · Access & Coverage

Le Médecin Traitant: Why France Wants You to Pick One Doctor

The gatekeeping rule that quietly decides how much you get back.

4 min read → 03 · Records & Data

What the Carte Vitale Actually Does

It is a payment rail, not a medical record. The chip holds almost nothing.

3 min read → 04 · Innovation

Téléconsultation: Seeing a Doctor by Screen

Reimbursed remote consultations went from niche to mainstream in a few short years.

3 min read → 05 · Gaps & Equity

Medical Deserts: Where France Runs Out of Doctors

Millions have no regular GP. The map shows where the shortage bites hardest.

7 min read →
ACCESS

Le Médecin Traitant: Why France Wants You to Pick One Doctor

The gatekeeping rule that quietly decides how much you get back.4 MINACCESS

What Universal Access Actually Promises

Every legal resident is covered — PUMa made it near-automatic. Here's what that means.3 MINACCESS

Who's Covered, and From When

Residence, not employment, is the key that opens the system.3 MINACCESS

Seeing a Specialist Without Losing Your Reimbursement

The referral path that keeps your rate at 70% instead of dropping it.3 MINFUNDING

The Mutuelle: France's Second Layer of Cover

Why almost everyone carries top-up insurance, and what it actually pays for.3 MIN
FUNDING

Third-Party Payment: Why You Sometimes Pay Nothing Upfront

Tiers payant removes the advance — a small change with a long, contested history.3 MINFUNDING

What the State Actually Covers — and What It Doesn't

The 70% rule, the flat fees, and the everyday costs that fall outside it.3 MINRECORDS

What the Carte Vitale Actually Does

It is a payment rail, not a medical record. The chip holds almost nothing.3 MINRECORDS

The Electronic Health Record: Promise and Friction

Building one national record per patient is harder than it sounds — France has tried for years.4 MINRECORDS

Mon Espace Santé: The Record Goes Digital

An opt-out digital health space for every resident — and the slow fight for adoption.3 MINRECORDS

Who Can See Your Health Data

The consent rules that decide which professional opens which file.3 MININNOVATION

Health Care Innovations in the Heart of France

From hospital pilots to national rollouts — where the system experiments.4 MININNOVATION

Téléconsultation: Seeing a Doctor by Screen

Reimbursed remote consultations went from niche to mainstream in a few short years.3 MININNOVATION

The Strategies That Keep French Care Consistent

Accreditation, guidelines and oversight — the quiet machinery behind reliable care.3 MININNOVATION

France's Digital-Health Push

Startups, e-prescriptions and the state's bet on a connected system.3 MINGAPS

Medical Deserts: Where France Runs Out of Doctors

Millions have no regular GP. The map shows where the shortage bites hardest.7 MINGAPS

How France Is Trying to Close the Health Gap

Coverage is near-universal, but outcomes still track income and geography.4 MINGAPS

Rural vs Urban: The Two-Speed System

Same card, very different waiting times — the geography of access.3 MINGAPS

The Gaps the System Still Leaves

Dental, optical, mental health and the costs that quietly fall through.3 MIN

Chiffres

The full numbers page →
≈12%

of GDP spent on health — among the highest shares in the world

OECD Health Statistics (approx.)
≈9%

of health spending paid out of pocket — among the lowest in the EU

OECD/DREES (approx.)
≈96%

of residents carry a complementary mutuelle

DREES (approx.)
≈6M

people without a regular médecin traitant — the system's open gap

Assurance Maladie (approx., confirm at build)

The reference tools

Kept current, kept sourced
Chiffres.

Every load-bearing number in the system, on one page.

 Lexique.

The vocabulary that runs the system, decoded.

 Sources.

Where every figure comes from, and how we check it.
A CPAM processing centre
The machine at work — a CPAM processing centre.Photo · Carnet Santé
Soutiens · principal entries

Le Registre

Clinics, insurers and patient bodies we keep in the register alongside this reference. Practices in our network.