“Hello, it's Health Insurance”. Hundreds of thousands of French people will hear it in the coming weeks, and it's not a new scam. As our colleagues at Midi Libre revealed, Health Insurance is preparing to launch a vast appeal campaign during the month of June, targeting 500,000 people across the country. The objective: to raise awareness among patients suffering from diabetes or heart failure of the importance of regular medical monitoring.
Strengthen medical monitoring
According to the official press release published on April 23 on the website of the Health Insurance and relayed by Midi Libre, the targeted people are those who suffer from diabetes or heart failure and who have only consulted their general practitioner once, or not at all, during the past year. “The High Authority for Health recommends at least four consultations per year with your general practitioner”, recalls the Health Insurance, quoted by the regional daily.
Through this telephone campaign, the Security Sociale aims to "raise awareness among policyholders with diabetes or heart failure of the importance of regular consultations with their general practitioner." These calls will make it possible to check whether patients are following a care pathway adapted to their condition and, if necessary, to refer them to their primary care physician.
The choice to target these two conditions is not insignificant: In France, more than 4.3 million people were treated for diabetes in 2022, or 6.3% of the population. Type 2 diabetes (which accounts for more than 90% of cases) is experiencing rapid growth worldwide. According to the WHO, the number of people with type 2 diabetes has increased from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014, our colleagues point out.
A call not to be missed
Health insurance emphasizes the link between these two diseases: “People with diabetes have up to four times more likely to develop heart failure, while patients with heart failure can more easily develop type 2 diabetes,” she said.
While telephone scams are on the rise (and scammers regularly impersonate Social Security to dupe their victims), the Health Insurance Department wants to reassure: this is in no way an attempt at fraud. “These calls aim to ensure that the care pathway of the people concerned is taking place under good conditions and, if necessary, to refer them to their doctor”, the organization emphasizes.
It therefore advises all French people to take this call seriously and respond favorably. Hoping that fraudsters do not take advantage of this period to launch campaigns to extract funds from new victims...
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