The transformation of French hospital capitalism: financialisation and concentration

The aim of this article is to analyse the financialisation of for-profit hospitals in France as the central driving force behind the transformation of hospital capitalism. It shows that over the last 30 years, the for-profit hospital sector has undergone a process of financialisation that has led to a high level of concentration. At the end of the last century, the sector was mainly made up of independent structures, often owned by doctors, but now it is characterised by the existence of interdependent groups, the largest of which are financialised. Between 2004 and 2020, the number of independent structures has been divided by 4.3, while the number of structures belonging to a group has multiplied by 2. These transformations have been made possible by substantial funding from public insurance. Moreover, the business model of hospital capitalism is based on patient selection and task selection, to the detriment of public hospitals.