Doctors’ association cancels convention with health insurer CNS

The association representing doctors and dentists in Luxembourg has officially ended its agreement that sets billing procedures and payment rates with the country’s main public health insurer.

The AMMD (Association des Médecins et Médecins-Dentistes) had been warning it would terminate the convention with the health insurance fund for weeks. The two sides will now enter a transition phase lasting a year, during which the existing convention remains valid, meaning that nothing will change for patients over the next twelve months.

At an extraordinary congress at the beginning of October, members voted to walk away from the current deal. Nevertheless, there were doubts as to whether the doctors were not simply trying to increase the pressure on Health Minister Martine Deprez (CSV).

The AMMD president, Chris Roller, told the Luxemburger Wort newspaper earlier this week that the agreement would be a thing of the past by All Saints’ Day.

According to a press release issued by the AMMD on Friday, the move is now official: the medical association has finally cancelled the convention with the health insurer, with a corresponding letter sent to the CNS by registered mail on 30 October.

AMMD President Chris Roller had told the Luxemburger Wort that the association would be cancelling its convention with the National Health Fund (CNS) before All Saints’ Day, 1 November 2025 © Photo credit: Marc Wilwert / LW-Archiv

“This historic decision reflects the clear will of doctors and dentists to end a framework that has become incompatible with the reality of modern medicine and with the constitutional principle of professional freedom and social protection of the population,” the AMMD stated in its press release.

Initial demands ahead of negotiations with CNS

The current convention with the CNS “restricts doctors in the exercise of their profession” and “hinders patients’ access to diagnosis and treatment within reasonable timeframes”, the AMMD has claimed.

The AMMD wants to put several points on the table during the next round of negotiations, including adjusting fees, strengthening outpatient services and reducing red tape. 

It is also calling for insured persons to be represented in the CNS’s governing bodies.

Despite the announcement, the AMMD said it is willing to engage in dialogue in order to lay the foundations together with the CNS and the government to place “the conventional system on fair and transparent foundations that respect the medical profession”.

What does the cancellation mean for patients?

Following the cancellation, the law provides for a transitional phase of twelve months during which the existing convention remains valid. Negotiations on a new agreement must begin within two months. If no agreement is reached within a year, the minister can issue a government regulation (règlement grand-ducal) by decree to establish a payments framework. Until then, cost reimbursements should continue to be handled as usual. This means that nothing will change for patients over the next twelve months.

(This article was originally published by the Luxemburger Wort. Machine translated using AI, with editing and adaptation by Aaron Grunwald)