2023-05-20 11:30:00
INSEE looked at increases in health care spending and sick leave in the months following the previous pension reform in 2010.
By Isabelle Missiaen for Le Point
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QWhat impact does the increase in the legal retirement age have on health expenditure? While it is difficult to precisely determine the immediate consequences of the pension reform voted in April 2023, INSEE looked into the question by questioning the previous reform: in 2010, the legal retirement age had already been raised. two years, rising from 60 to 62 years, at the rate of four additional months per generation. Consequence: an increase in sick leave and health care costs among people close to retirement.
The study, relayed by The echoes and BFMTV, focuses on the 10 months following the announcement of the pension reform in 2010. However, over this period, “a postponement of the legal age and the age of the full rate increases the probability of having at least one sick leave during the period studied by 11.8% for men and 10.3% for women” at the end of their career, notes INSEE.
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More consultations with specialists
“Overall, our results suggest that a four-month increase in the legal age and the full benefit age has a non-negligible effect on expenditure for visits to doctors or physiotherapists, as well as on expenditure on medicines”, concludes INSEE. It should be noted that these expenses are concentrated on specialist consultations, while general medical consultations do not experience any particular increase.
This last element seems to invalidate the hypothesis that people close to retirement seek sick leave to protest against the reform that affects them. Indeed, if that were the case, « employees could expect more complacency from their family doctor than from specialist doctors »notes the study.
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INSEE therefore puts forward another hypothesis: the modification of pension rights for these people at the end of their career would produce “stress likely to cause psychological and even physical disorders”. Thus, “the need to give up on one’s plans can cause psychological distress and affect physical well-being”, suggests the study.
3.6 billion in additional spending, according to DREES
It should be noted, however, that the 2010 reform was a little different from that of 2023: in 2010, the legal age of departure had been raised at the rate of four months per generation, against three months for this one. In addition, the previous reform also provided for a two-year increase in the age of the full automatic rate (from 65 to 67), while the current reform does not plan to touch it.
But, without a doubt, the ongoing reform will also have a cost. A study by the Department of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (Drees) on the 2023 reform thus anticipates “an increase in expenditure on social benefits excluding pensions and unemployment insurance of around 3, 6 billion euros”, including expenses related to disability pensions, sick leave and the various social minima (RSA, AAH and ASS).
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