Several new measures have been announced as France looks to crack down on social security fraud, including plans for officials to have access to the financial data of all benefits recipients.
Minister for Health and Labour Catherine Vautrin outlined the plans in an interview this weekend. She claims the tougher measures will help significantly reduce the estimated €13 billion of social security fraud committed annually in France.
This amount is from a combination of people who avoid paying the necessary social charges on their income, as well as those who collect social benefits to which they are not entitled.
The tighter controls will be introduced in a bill this autumn to be debated by MPs, although it may see opposition.
“Social fraud is a betrayal of those who contribute to finance our social model; it is a major issue,” Ms Vautrin told media outlet Le Parisien.
What are major new proposals?
A cornerstone measure will be giving social security authorities the ability to “facilitate the monitoring of social benefit recipients,” she said.
The officials [will be able] to have access to all of the beneficiary's assets, such as property information, bank details, assurance vie holdings, etc, to ensure that they do not have undeclared income,” Ms Vautrin added, making it easier for authorities to investigate potential cases of fraud.
If the fraud is confirmed, authorities will also have greater control to recoup the funds.
It has not been clarified whether the proposal will apply to all or only some benefits.
“We will be able to request reimbursement of sums [benefits] wrongly received, which was not possible today for [several benefits].”
“We will also be able to recover the money owed by debiting the fraudster's bank account,” Ms Vautrin said.
Similar measures will be introduced in relation to sick-leave fraud.
In addition, unemployment benefit (chômage) payments will be limited to EU bank accounts in a bid to reduce fraudulent claims from those living outside of France, and certain benefits paid to people convicted of drug trafficking will be stopped.
Authorities will be able to recover a larger percentage of money from convicted traffickers who were receiving benefits, up to a possible 45% compared to the current 9%.
Medical transport vehicles will be equipped with geolocation devices to prove they are working and to confirm the amount of kilometres they claim to have travelled, as well as use electronic billing which the government believe will reduce fraud.
Finally, increased investigations into vocational training companies in-part funded by public spending will be easier – with people being allowed to give anonymous tip-offs if the training is not being given.
Few plans to fight against cash-in-hand work
Notably, there are few measures to combat working ‘on the black’, which is thought to cost the state up to €7 billion in missed social security payments – around half of all social security fraud in the country.
Bank accounts of organisations accused of not paying social security contributions will be frozen during investigations, in an effort to prevent them being emptied before the state recoups any missed payments.
However, Ms Vautrin did not announce any other measures in this area.
In addition, wider measures against healthcare professionals (other than for medical transport drivers) are largely absent, despite close to 70% of confirmed fraud cases in 2023 coming from the sector.
Are proposed social security changes possible?
The wide-ranging measures will be included in an anti-fraud bill, but will require a wider political consensus to pass, with the government lacking a majority of MPs in the Assemblée nationale.
Ms Vautrin is confident the motion will pass – “all parliamentarians want to put an end to fraud. I will study each proposal. My method is dialogue and compromise,” she said.
The state already has the power to recoup funds such as unpaid taxes from bank accounts, so a widening of measures in this context would be feasible.
However, giving social security officials powers to access all financial information of benefit recipients may be viewed with concern by some.
It is not in theory difficult to achieve, and there is unlikely to be any legal precedent to prevent the move, but it may be seen as an authoritarian move on the state’s part.
“A database exists, but it is incomplete and not up to date… of course it is feasible [to pass such a law],” said Benoît Perrin, director of Contribuables associés, a group that monitors the correct management of taxpayer money, to Le Figaro.
“Our social security and tax authorities need to have access to all the data on suspected fraudsters. And that seems to be what the minister wants to do: speed up the interface between the two administrations,” he added.
Fraud in the sector may be closer to €30 billion annually, said Mr Perrin, giving an example that up to 74 million people are included on the social security databases when France only has an official population of 68 million.
“Combating fraud, including among foreigners who receive social benefits without living in France, is not a right-wing or left-wing issue: it is common sense,” he added.
Mr Perrin is calling for auditors independent of social security to carry out the measures to prevent a conflict of interest, as social security workers may be reluctant to declare payments incorrectly distributed as fraudulent.
