Why 500,000 France residents will receive a call from the Assurance Maladie in June
Patients will be reminded to book GP appointments to tackle certain long-term illnesses
Patients will be reminded to attend regular check-ups with their GP
Ground Picture/Shutterstock
France’s state health insurer Assurance Maladie is set to call up to 500,000 people next month as it urges people with long-lasting health issues to maintain regular GP appointments.
The calls will be made by Assurance Maladie to sufferers of diabetes or heart disease (insuffisance cardiaque) who had less than two appointments with their GP in the preceding year.
It is part of a campaign to ensure those with these problems maintain regular check-ups – France’s health authority (Haute Autorité Santé) recommends people with the conditions have at least four GP appointments per year.
Those receiving the calls do not have to do anything in particular, but will be reminded to make appointments and will also be given health advice and guidelines for their circumstances.
Lengthy illnesses can see the patient’s situation change several times, in turn requiring different medicines to be prescribed – another reason why the health authorities are keen to remind people to regularly visit their GP.
More frequent visits to primary care points such as GPs will also reduce the risk of people suffering an emergency relating to their illness, and requiring treatment at Accident and Emergency (urgences).
While the calls are not a scam – although people are traditionally sceptical of unexpected phone calls in recent years – people should be aware of the risk of health insurance-based fraud.
Scammers posing as Assurance Maladie may ask for personal information to be used later in a ‘phishing’ scam, or divert you via text or email to click on fraudulent links.
In some cases, fraudsters may even be using a legitimate Assurance Maladie number to route the call, making themselves seem more trustworthy.
As a rule, Assurance Maladie will never ask you for personal information when conducting a legitimate call (such as the reminders issued as part of this campaign).
Diabetes and heart disease on rise
Cases of both conditions are on the rise in France in recent years.
There are an estimated 4 million sufferers of diabetes in France – 800,000 more than in 2015.
In terms of cardiac issues, around 1.5 million people have been diagnosed, with 120,000 new cases each year.
These two illnesses are symbiotic – those with diabetes are four times more likely to experience heart failure, and those with the latter are likely to eventually be diagnosed with diabetes.
France trialled a free 15-minute heart disease test at several hospitals in 2024, as it looked to detect this early.
