Health insurance premiums are set to increase again in 2026, driven by rising healthcare costs and newly imposed taxes.

The National Federation of French Mutuals (FNMF) announced on December 16, 2025, that premiums for health mutuals will rise by an average of 4.3% for individual contracts (including students, unemployed people, and retirees) and 4.7% for collective contracts (such as employee coverage through companies).

Mutuals, which represent 40% of the individual health insurance market and 16% of collective coverage according to France Assureurs, explain that the increase reflects structural healthcare trends as well as recent government policies.

Rising Healthcare Costs

Healthcare spending in France has been steadily increasing. Between 2013 and 2020, annual healthcare expenditure grew by 1.8% on average, according to data from the Directorate for Research, Studies, Evaluation, and Statistics (Drees). Since 2020, spending has accelerated sharply, rising 22% over five years (approximately 4.4% per year). In 2024 alone, healthcare expenses increased by 3.6%.

Unlike the Social Security system, mutuals cannot borrow to cover shortfalls, the FNMF notes, and must therefore adjust premiums based on projected healthcare costs. Historically, the gap between premium growth and benefits growth has been minimal, averaging only 0.3% per year between 2011 and 2024.

Several factors explain this trend. First, the population is aging: in 2024, life expectancy at birth reached 80 years for men and 85.6 years for women, while healthy life expectancy remained much lower, around 63–64 years. Longer lifespans and chronic illnesses—affecting 12 million people in France in 2021—drive higher demand for long-term care. Moreover, advances in medical science have introduced more sophisticated and expensive treatments, which are partly reimbursed by both Social Security and complementary insurance.

Impact of New Taxes and Charges

The FNMF also blames recent government measures. Mutuals face additional charges amounting to hundreds of millions of euros, including contributions toward hospital funding (€400 million) and daily allowances for sick leave (€600 million) due to reduced Social Security coverage.

Most notably, a new exceptional contribution of 2.05% on premiums will be introduced under the 2026 Social Security Financing Law, effectively adding to existing solidarity taxes. The FNMF warns this creates a “healthcare VAT” of around €1 billion, raising total taxation on premiums to 16%, one of the highest rates in Europe.

The federation urges measures to improve efficiency, reduce redundant procedures, fight fraud, and invest in prevention, warning that without action, healthcare premiums will continue to rise year after year due to the aging population and costly medical innovations.

Previously, the government justified some of the charges as a way to offset planned increases in out-of-pocket costs for medications and medical consultations, which ultimately were not implemented. Mutuals note that their budgets are set before budget debates take place, so they cannot adjust retroactively.

For French policyholders, this means one thing is certain: health insurance bills are set to rise in 2026.