Payment for hospital meals - new law ?

[AnOther]

There was a piece in Tuesdays Telegraph from a lady who's husband was in hospital in Marseilles for an extended period with a brain tumor which eventually claimed his life.

According to her part way through his stay she was told by the hospital that a new law had been introduced called the Journalier which required them to charge for daily meals. She had private health insurance (the word mutuelle was not used) but this was not covered so for the remaining months of his stay until he died she had to pay €112 per week for his food.

A bit of a distasteful subject I'm afraid yet one of those things which could conceivably come knocking on some peoples doors and it's usually better to know about these things in advance so does anyone have any further information ?

[Clair]

€112/7 = €16, which is the forfait hospitalier.

Nothing new there and it is covered by a most mutuelles.

[AnOther]

It would seem than that she did indeed have private health insurance, not a mutuelle, and the period before she was asked to pay was a mistake or oversight although why they told her it was a new law can only be left to the imagination.

The lady in question claims to have been in France for 15 years and had several spells in hospital so why this came as a surprise to her, sufficient to warrant writing to the Telegraph, I really don't know [8-)]

 

[Chancer]

Probably another case of someone (even after 15 years) getting confused because they didnt speak or understand the language sufficiently well, this can be excused because there are many others in that position, but the Telegraph not doing any research?

I am tempted to write in with a fictitious (and laughable to anyone with any knowledge) complaint/report and see if it generates a "I cant be arsed to find anything better today" story.

Any suggestions for what might float their boat?

[AnOther]

I've dug up the original article which prompted this lady's letter although quite what direct relevance her observations had to it's content escapes me at the moment.

 

[Clair]

The letter which prompted Ernie to start this thread is on this page: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/06/10/nosplit/dt1001.xml#head1

[Ron Avery]

Maybe Ernie, if she has been in France a long time, she is one of those who had private health insurance in the days when you could,  and never bothered joined the CMU when it came along despite it being obligatory.

 A few on here have been in France a fair few years and will tell you that they had to have private healthcare until the CMU became more widely available.  Athough generally against the law unless CMU membership was not a possibilty, there were a number of circumstances whereby private insurance was accepted and the hospitals did not really care where the money came from to pay the bills.

As for the article about the French hospitals being far better than the NHS, there have been a lot of spats in the past over this Forum with a number of long gone posters giving examples of French hospital treatment far worse than that of the supposed UK example, particularly in the Montpellier area if my memory is correct.

[Will]

Sorry you seem to regard us as 'long gone', Ron. But I know several instances of French hospital care falling below standard, although this is mainly orthopaedic surgery. My own smaller problem with the system concerns French GPs being rather set in their ways, meaning I have had to wait until I can return to the NHS to continue a specific treatment. But of course, the French system has many good points too.

Interesting that Pres Sarkozy seems to regard the NHS as a good example. Though he is obviously talking about not the quality of the service at the sharp end, but the way the NHS has attempted to bring costs down, whereas the santé has continued to spiral out of control.

[Chancer]

I didnt realise that it was an "internet letter" and was not as such published by the paper.

Also it looks to be a private hospice, perhaps what she said was correct and that up to a certain time these clinics were not able to seperate the lodging element from the care element factured to the patients/insurers?

We will never know but my guess is that it was the insurers finding a new way to reduce their exposure.

[BJSLIV]

I didnt realise that it was an "internet letter" and was not as such published by the paper

No it was a "real"  letter. It was at the  top of page 23 on Tuesday!

[Ron Avery]

[quote user="Will"]

Sorry you seem to regard us as 'long gone', Ron. .

[/quote]

Not you Will, I was thinking more of  him who cannot be mentioned and another poster who has also gone (T-U?) who lived in Montpellier.  Both used to pour cold water on anyone praising the French health system, albeit it appeared based on one or two,  I thought, atypical cases of poor care at casualty departments.

[opas]

No  TU did not live anywhere near Montpellier. I think you may be thinking of another female longstanding member of this forum who had a tragic experience of this Hospital. We on the other hand have so far nothing but praise, although Wills comments on the Orthopeadics in France has unnerved me a little, seing as this is the area we are mainly reliant on.

[5-element]

I live near Montpellier, and have had very positive experiences of various services of the large CHU there.

[Sprogster]

Talking to our French neighbours, there seems to be many of the same concerns about hospital acquired infections in France, as in the UK. One particular French neighbour, had elective surgery at a hospital a four hour drive away, because the two nearer hospitals do not have a good local reputation apparently.

I would have thought there are wide variations in standards from region to region in France as in the UK and therefore it is difficult to make meaningful comparisons. According, to several of members of my family who are doctors and surgeons, most of the hospital acquired infections originate from paients being treated in the A&E unit, as unlike patients being admitted for elective surgery you cannot pre-screen them for infections like MRSA and C.difficile. Therefore, if having elective surgery, having decided on a surgeon try and choose a hospital if you can without an A&E unit.