Plans for doctors in France to receive €1,000 bonus for prescribing fewer drugs

Doctors in France are to be given a bonus of €1,000 if they reduce the amount of medicine they prescribe, in new plans to combat France’s Social Security deficit. 

The measure will see doctors who prescribe less than the national average – which around one-third of all practitioners already do – automatically receive the bonus, with the rest having to prescribe 10% fewer drugs than in 2024 to obtain this prime. 

Despite the projected cost of the initiative being tens of millions of euros, it should result in savings to the annual Social Security budget, as the cost of the bonuses will be less than the reduction in social security reimbursements for medicines.

In addition to monetary savings it will reduce medical waste at a time where France consistently faces medicine shortages.

Around €123 million worth of unused medicine is thrown away monthly in France, with much of this funded at least in part by state reimbursement. 

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25% reduction in antibiotic prescriptions

It is hoped that the promise of monetary reward should see doctors give more thought to the medicines they offer and in what quantity. This could help to reduce the number of antibiotics and other medicines in circulation in the country. 

“Our objective is to reach the European average, i.e. to reduce antibiotic drug consumption by 25% by 2027,” said Marguerite Cazeneuve, deputy director of France’s national insurance fund (Caisse Nationale de l’Assurance maladie, CNAM) to French media outlet TF1.

Tougher restrictions on prescriptions of certain powerful painkillers including tramadol will come into force in March. 

The changes were meant to take place before the new year but were delayed to allow pharmacies more time to update their prescription systems.

Read more: New date set for stricter painkiller prescription rules in France