Krys, Afflelou, Grand Optical, Optic Santé, Ecouter Voir… In most medium-sized French towns, where businesses disappear every year in their city centres, dotted with abandoned shop windows, one category of brands continues to digitally crush all the others: opticians. Shops, over-represented. This exceptional density of opticians is a very French speciality. One shop for every 5,400 inhabitants: this rate is unrivalled in the world. And it’s not over yet! Even today, the expansion of these businesses continues. But at a much slower pace than fifteen years ago, when several hundred were opening each year.
“It was a period There is no limit, recalls one industry observer. The reimbursements of complementary health insurance, which are very generous, even without restrictions for some, encourage the acquisition of expensive equipment. » With such comfortable margins for opticians that some stores were viable selling less than three pairs a day.
“Economic anomaly”
A phenomenon described, since 2013, as“economic anomaly” by the research firm Xerfi. At the same time, the Court of Auditors judged the sector “opaque and uncompetitive”and the consumer association UFC-Que Choisir denounced the price “exorbitant” glasses in France, a major source of neglect of the care of the most modest. In his research against Just for your eyes (Anne Carrière, 2013), the polemicist Pascal Perri directly evoked a “scandal” and denounced a tendency to “invoice optimizations”According to him, opticians often adjust their budget not to the real needs of the client, but to the maximum reimbursement offered by their supplementary insurance.
These repeated warnings have led the public authorities to legislate since 2014 (Le Roux law on health networks) to try to stop the inflationary spiral of this market worth more than 7 billion euros and to allow all French people to be equipped with glasses. Several regulatory measures have been taken to eliminate excesses in this sector, make it more transparent and facilitate access to care. However, the overall cost remains high in a growing market where optical guarantees remain at good levels and where aesthetic concerns and the quality of visual comfort are determining criteria for selection.
Glasses are, in fact, a unique product, as they are both a medical device and a fashion accessory, for which health insurance coverage has always been marginal. It is the supplementary health insurance companies that assume the majority of the reimbursement, which has become a real commercial issue for them. “For years, in order to gain market share, particularly in collective contracts, it depended on who offered the best optical guarantees.comments economist François Lévêque, professor at Mines ParisTech. This competition led to a dizzying rise in prices and the illusion of free treatment for policyholders, who did not hesitate to change their glasses every year, since it was permitted.
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