Fighting fraud and trafficking: Health Insurance requires presentation of the Vitale card for certain medications

Presenting your Vitale card at the pharmacy must be systematic, particularly to obtain reimbursement for certain medications that are in high demand or particularly expensive, the Health Insurance announced on Tuesday, June 17, in the name of the fight against abuse.

"In order to promote the proper use of the healthcare system, to make the dispensing of sensitive and/or expensive medications more secure, to limit fraud and to improve the traceability of the care pathway, it will now be mandatory to present your Vitale card at the pharmacy to receive care," the National Health Insurance Fund (CNAM) said in a press release.

This presentation will be "systematically required to benefit from third-party payment, in particular for the dispensing of risky or expensive medications," specifies the Cnam.

It particularly mentions drugs that could be trafficked, such as narcotics-based treatments or several antidiabetics .

In other words, you will need to have the physical or electronic card with you each time you visit the pharmacy to avoid paying upfront.

Faced with "the worrying increase in fraud and the diversion of certain sensitive medications" - narcotics, antidiabetics or expensive treatments - the Health Insurance is calling for the adoption of this "good reflex" to guarantee "a more efficient, safer and always supportive health system".

Exceptions will remain possible, "for example for infants under 3 months old" or for residents in nursing homes, adds the Cnam, which insists on "the right reflexes to adopt."

Recipients of State Medical Aid (AME), for their part, will have to present their AME card to benefit from third-party payment.

Asked by AFP whether the mandatory presentation of the Vitale card concerned all medications, or only those highlighted in its press release, the Cnam replied that this measure should be "systematized" but was "all the more essential" for expensive treatments or those with a high risk of trafficking or misuse.