Regulatory changes affecting employee benefits in France include:
Portability of health and life insurance benefits:
The portability of Life & Health benefits introduced in 2008 foresees the possibility for the employees that have been dismissed to extend their Life, Disability and supplementary Health cover in place within their group insurance during a maximum period of 9 months. Two major modifications have now been introduced in the existing conditions (article L911-8, Code de la Sécurité sociale):
- The duration of the portability, extended from 9 to 12 months;
- The financing system, based exclusively on mutualisation (co-financed by the employer and active employees) while the employee that has been dismissed has no longer a co-financing option
Measures apply to all employees who have health and/or Life and Disability cover, who have been dismissed (except for gross negligence). Timeline: effective as of 1st of June 2014 with regards to health coverage, and expected to be enforced as of 1st of June 2015 at the latest for life and disability coverage.
Transparency of management expenses:
As of January 2014 insurance companies are obliged to communicate annually to their clients the following elements, in a clear and understandable way: management expenses, acquisition expenses and total of both expenses related to supplementary private medical cover (article 10, Loi de financement de la Sécurité sociale 2012). Those amounts are expressed as a percentage of premiums.
Additional health coverage and minimum standards for all employees:
- Publication of the decree concerning “Medicare basket”
All compulsory group medical plans effective from 11th of September 2014 have to respect minimum level of benefits. Minim levels are applied on Optical (eye glasses), Dental care and Daily hospital fees. For all companies that have no group medical cover in place yet, the deadline to implement those minimum levels is 1st of January 2016.
- “Responsible” insurance contracts: entry into force
The LFRSS (Loi de Financement Rectificative de la Sécurité Sociale) of 2014 has postponed the entry in force of minimum levels related to the “Responsible” insurance contracts from 1st of January 2015 to 1st of April 2015. Moreover, a moratorium has been put in place for the existing contracts till the 9th of August 2014. This moratorium ends on the 31st of December 2017 (unless any medication).
For more information, do not hesitate to contact the GEB EMEA Office.