Health Insurance has finally shown its cards: the price of the basic consultation with the general practitioner could be increased to 30 euros – compared to 26.50 euros, since 1er november. The proposal, issued Thursday February 8, during the third multilateral session of the conventional negotiation with private doctors, was eagerly awaited by professionals, who have been denouncing the insufficiency of prices for months.
Increases specific to each of the clinical and technical specialties have also been put on the table, primarily in the sectors where remuneration is the lowest, in pediatrics, psychiatry, medical gynecology, etc. Measures “substantial” and one “massive investment”, defended the boss of the National Health Insurance Fund (CNAM), Thomas Fâtome, to strengthen the attractiveness of private medicine. The timetable for their implementation, however, has not yet been decided.
Initially scheduled for January 25, this meeting on the key subject of remuneration was postponed for the first time, when the health issue no longer had a dedicated holder within the government. Catherine Vautrin was indeed appointed to a scope combining work, health and solidarity, but the appointment of a minister delegated to the sector remained to be formalized. It was done this Thursday evening, with the appointment of Frédéric Valletoux.
“Collective, quantified and measurable objectives”
While medical deserts have continued to worsen, this discussion with the six unions representing liberal medicine, general practitioners and specialists, was relaunched by the government in the fall. It should lead, in the spring, the protagonists hope, to a new convention setting the rules of practice and remuneration of professionals. A first attempt failed in February 2023, stumbling on a “territorial engagement contract” who intended to condition these revaluations, and had provoked an outcry.
If this contract has indeed been abandoned, Health Insurance is this time emphasizing the compensation that it intends to ask from doctors. They will be available with “collective, quantified and measurable objectives”, argued Thomas Fâtome. And will focus on different areas: improving access to care, in particular by strengthening the permanence of care in “first part of the night” ; the overhaul of flat-rate remuneration, with the possibility for certain doctors to be paid entirely on a flat-rate basis, and no longer on a fee-for-service basis; or the quality and relevance of care, at a time when the government claims to want to reduce the consumption of medicines.
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