At the request of pirate MPs Sven Clement (parliamentary question 3066) and green MPs Djuna Bernard (parliamentary question 3066), the Minister for Health and Social Security, Martine Deprez (CSV), returned to the concrete measures planned by the government to reduce the deficit of the CNS (National Health Fund), "without compromising the quality of health services".

An initial set of measures can be implemented quickly, as they do not require any changes to the legal framework, but simple changes to the statutes, agreements or nomenclature to control expenditure. The Minister is targeting drug prescriptions, biological analyses and physiotherapy sessions. Estimated savings: €60 million. Other measures, requiring changes to the legal framework, will focus on combating drug wastage and strengthening the CNS's ability to monitor abuse and fraud. This will result in additional savings of €80 million.

Four working groups

"All these measures will have to be worked out in detail with the professional groups within dedicated thematic groups and an initial assessment will be presented at the next quadripartite meeting in spring 2026", the Minister explains. "To this end, various working groups will be set up under the supervision of a strategic committee bringing together representatives of the State, employers, employees and professional groups."

A meeting to launch the strategic committee took place on 29 October 2025. There are four working groups: "medical control", which will operate a medical control of prescriptions; "medicines", which will deal with accounting control of medicines and the fight against waste; "hospital care", which will control the evolution of hospital budgets, and "others", the latter being more specifically responsible for the fight against fraud.

Contribution increases in sight for 2027

"The approach adopted has focused in particular on promoting useful and necessary care, without depriving insured persons of access to essential care. For example, targeted medical management certainly aims to make savings, while complying with international recommendations. This approach thus guarantees a balance between optimising expenditure and maintaining the quality of care, including in the field of preventive medicine", the Minister points out.

The Minister also indicated that health insurance contributions will not be increased for 2026. However, given the likelihood of the health insurance reserve falling below the legal threshold from 2027, the Quadripartite Committee scheduled for autumn 2026 will discuss an increase in contributions for benefits in kind (Naturleeschtungen) from 5.6% to 5.85%.