DistantNews
Support us
🇫🇷 France /Health & Science

French health insurance sees "clear recovery" in new general practitioners for 2025

From Le Figaro · () French

Translated from French, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • The number of general practitioners establishing private practices in France increased by 32% in 2025 compared to the previous year.
  • This resurgence is attributed to a significant increase in medical school placements over the past decade, with effects now appearing.
  • The trend is particularly strong in underserved areas, and while encouraging, the long-term impact on medical deserts needs confirmation.

France has observed a "clear recovery" in the establishment of private general practitioners in 2025, with a 32% increase compared to 2024. This follows six years of stagnation or decline. The French National Health Insurance Fund (Assurance maladie) attributes this demographic rebound to a significant rise in medical school placements over the preceding decade, noting that these increased capacities are now beginning to impact the number of new practitioners.

This recovery in the demographics of general practitioners in towns is notably explained by the significant increase over the past decade in the number of places opened in medical schools.

— Assurance maladieThe French National Health Insurance Fund explaining the rise in new general practitioners.

In 2025, 2,810 general practitioners set up private practices, up from 2,130 the previous year. The "care access observatory" figures indicate this positive trend is expected to continue. Encouragingly, this demographic rebound disproportionately benefits "priority intervention zones" – the areas most lacking medical services. In 2025, 891 general practitioners established practices in these zones, nearly 300 more than in 2024, representing a nearly 45% increase.

Despite these positive developments, the proportion of patients with long-term illnesses (ALD) without a primary care physician remained stable at 4.3% at the end of 2025, even as the number of such patients grew. The use of medical assistants also increased by 20% in contract signings, and the national access to care service (SAS) now covers 98.5% of the French population.

This rebound in demographics particularly benefits priority intervention zones.

— Assurance maladieHighlighting the positive impact of new practitioners in underserved areas.

However, a concerning signal for financial accessibility is the decrease in practitioners opting for the "Optam" scheme, designed to control supplementary fees. The number of doctors adhering to Optam fell by 1,832 from 2024, with the adherence rate dropping to 44.5% from 52.7%. While the Observatory reports "encouraging results" in combating medical desertification, the Assurance maladie stresses these need to be "confirmed over time."

Encouraging results in the fight against medical desertification to be confirmed over time.

— Assurance maladieA cautious assessment of the progress made in addressing the shortage of doctors in certain areas.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Le Figaro in French. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog