Several factors explain the scale of future increases in supplementary health insurance. They were actually already planned for a long time…
While health expenses continue to increase and inflation is already weighing on budgets, complementary health insurance companies are once again preparing to review their prices. According to estimates from three specialized firms, the increase could reach very different levels depending on the contracts: Facts & Figures predicts an increase of 2 to 3.5%, Assurland estimates that it will be between 3 and 4%, and Addactis mentions an even wider range, ranging from 3.4 to 10%. This dispersion reflects the diversity of guarantees and insured profiles, but also the difficulty for complementary companies to absorb the rapid evolution of health expenses.
A movement that began well before 2026
According to BFM TV, this increase was widely anticipated. During the Covid crisis, mutual insurance companies voluntarily limited the increase in their prices so as not to aggravate the already very strong pressure on purchasing power. Result: the increases were contained for two to three years, out of step with record inflation. Since then, supplementary health insurance has caught up with this pricing gap. In 2024 and 2025, contributions increased by 6 to 7%, marking a turning point in the dynamics of the sector. Over a period of five years, the bill for policyholders has jumped by 27% on average, an increase which weighs heavily on household budgets.
Several factors explain the magnitude of the future increases. First, the aging of the population mechanically contributes to increasing health spending: more consultations, examinations, chronic treatments, and therefore more reimbursements for mutual insurance companies. Then, new treatments and medications, often resulting from the most recent research, are more effective but also much more expensive. Some are not reimbursed by Health Insurance, which increases the burden borne by supplementary health insurance. Mutual insurance companies must also finance the “zero out-of-pocket” system, set up to allow policyholders to benefit from glasses, dental prostheses or hearing aids at no additional cost. This system, although useful, represents a significant cost for supplementary workers and contributes to the structural increase in contributions.
Finally, an exceptional tax of one billion euros still looms over mutual societies. If it were adopted, even partially, part of this burden could be passed on to policyholders from 2026.
Beyond the percentages announced, the amounts actually paid differ greatly depending on age, household composition and place of residence. Today, a young worker pays on average €37 per month, while a 60-year-old couple pays around €252, and a family with two children around €133. These differences are explained by different health needs and a statistically higher medical risk with age. Geographic disparities are also marked. The highest average contributions are observed in urbanized departments where the healthcare offering is significant and where fee overruns are frequent: Bouches-du-Rhône: €151.87 per month; Paris: €146.09; Hauts-de-Seine: €144.73. Conversely, the least expensive territories remain: Creuse: €125.88 per month; Côtes-d’Armor: €126.89; Loire-Atlantique: €126.91. These variations reflect different medical practices, but also a less intense rate of healthcare consumption in certain rural areas.
Although the majority of contracts will be affected, the impact will be particularly noticeable for seniors, low-income households and policyholders who have opted for enhanced guarantees. These successive increases also raise a broader question: that of the place and role of complementary services in a health system under pressure, where needs are increasing faster than funding. For households, 2026 promises to be another year where health coverage will weigh heavily on the budget, with an increasing risk of forgoing care for the most vulnerable.
