Section 1: General principles

The rights granted to users go hand in hand with responsibilities designed to ensure the sustainability of the healthcare system and the principles on which it is based.

A public service, placed under the responsibility of the Minister for Health, has the task of disseminating free of charge and as widely as possible information relating to health and health products, and in particular to the health, medico-social and social services available to the public. The information disseminated is adapted and accessible to disabled people. It is set up with the help of the national health insurance funds, the…

I. – Everyone has the right to be informed about their state of health. This information relates to the various investigations, treatments or preventive actions proposed, their usefulness, any urgency, their consequences, the frequent or serious risks normally foreseeable that they entail, as well as the other possible solutions and the foreseeable consequences of refusal. He/she is also informed of the possibility of receiving, when his/her state of health so…

Everyone has the right to information about the costs they may incur in the course of preventive, diagnostic and health care activities and, where applicable, about the conditions for reimbursement and exemption from advance payment. This information is free of charge.

When patients are discharged from a health care establishment, they receive a document informing them, under conditions defined by decree, of the cost of all services received, indicating the proportion covered by their compulsory health insurance scheme and, where applicable, the proportion covered by their supplementary insurance organisation, and the balance to be paid.

I.- Information is provided by self-employed healthcare professionals and health centres: 1° By display in the places where patients are received ; 2° By prior quotation above a certain amount. In the case of health establishments, information is provided by display in the places where patients are received and on public websites. II.Where the procedure includes the supply of a custom-made device referred to in Article 1 of Regulation (EU)…

The specific procedures for applying article L. 113-3 of the Consumer Code to health services covered by article L. 1111-3, I and the second paragraph of II of article L. 1111-3-2 of this code with regard to display, presentation, mandatory elements and the amount above which a quotation is drawn up, as well as information to ensure the identification and traceability of the devices mentioned in Article 1 of Regulation…

Public health establishments and the health establishments mentioned in b, c and d of article L. 162-22-6 of the Social Security Code may only invoice the patient for the costs corresponding to the care services he has received and, where applicable, the costs provided for in 2° of articles L. 162-22-1 and L. 162-22-6 of the same code corresponding to the special requirements he has made. Health professionals bound by…

Failure to comply with the obligations set out in articles L. 1111-3, L. 1111-3-2, L. 1111-3-3 and L. 1111-3-4 of this code shall be investigated and recorded by competition, consumer affairs and fraud control officers, under the conditions defined in article L. 511-7 of the French Consumer Code. These breaches are punishable by an administrative fine of up to €3,000 for a natural person and up to €15,000 for a…

At the time of treatment, the patient is informed by the health professional or by the health establishment, the health service, one of the organisations mentioned in article L. 1142-1 or any other legal entity, other than the State, carrying out preventive, diagnostic or care activities employing him, that this professional or this person fulfils the legal conditions of practice defined in this code. The patient is also informed by…