Glossary
Reimbursement basis
The reference rate set by French Social Security for each medical procedure, used to calculate a reimbursement, in France as well as through the CFE abroad.
For each medical procedure (consultation, test, hospital stay, dental care...), French Social Security sets a national reference rate, the reimbursement basis, against which a reimbursed percentage is calculated — 70% for a sector-1 GP consultation, for example. The CFE applies this same French rate to its members abroad, regardless of the country where care is received.
The reimbursement basis is a reference rate, not the price actually billed by the practitioner: what the patient actually pays, their actual costs, can be very close to this basis in France, but noticeably higher abroad in countries where care costs more than in France. It is this structural gap that supplementary cover aims to close.
Example
A consultation billed at €80 in a country where care is expensive is reimbursed by the CFE only on the basis of the French reference rate, far below the €80 of actual costs incurred.
Also searched as: negotiated rate · BRSS · Social Security reimbursement basis