Demonstration in Lille on December 11, 2023 by taxis against the conditions of remuneration for patient transport (AFP/Archives/Denis Charlet)
Taxis are blocking several major routes across France on Monday in order to obtain from Health Insurance a renegotiation of patient transport, with snail operations carried out in Paris, Marseille and even Bordeaux.
In Île-de-France, while agricultural unions announced their desire to lay siege to the capital from 2:00 p.m., a taxi snail operation was launched early Monday on the A13 towards Porte d ‘Auteuil on the ring road.
“The procession progresses at reduced speed and leaves one lane of traffic free,” said Bison Futé.
For this “renewable” day of mobilization at the call of four national organizations, the demonstrators are demanding a renegotiation of the conditions of remuneration for patient transport, while the National Health Insurance Fund (Cnam) has put an agreement on the table deemed unfavorable by the unions, who demanded a status quo.
Taxis fear that the new conditions will force them to take additional discounts on their rates for medical transportation, while forcing them to carpool patients.
In New Aquitaine, some 500 taxis mobilized according to the organizers and the prefecture for a snail operation on the Bordeaux ring road, a nerve center between Paris and Spain already blocked from last Wednesday to Friday by several hundred angry farmers .
“We will not give up, we will go all the way to get back on good foundations” with the Cnam, Éric Roulière-Laumonier, president of the Bordeaux Métropole and Gironde Taxi Union (STBMG) told AFP. .
The prefect advised to “favor teleworking and limit travel” on the Bordeaux ring road, an axis used by 85,000 to 140,000 vehicles per day and regularly congested during peak hours.
– “Very angry” –
In Bouches-du-Rhône, taxis carried out two snail operations Monday morning: a procession towards the prefecture in the center of Marseille and another on the A8 motorway near Aix-en-Provence, complicating traffic .
“The Health Insurance Fund has decided to impose rates on us without negotiation,” Céline Puech, who works as a taxi (medical and classic) in Marseille, told AFP.
Demonstration in Bayonne on December 11, 2023 by taxis against the conditions of remuneration for patient transport (AFP/Archives/GAIZKA IROZ)
“We want a return to the negotiating table, we cannot accept this pricing. The taxis have a lot of charges, we work endless hours. We are very angry and our movement is renewable,” she declared via telephone from the procession.
Taxi demonstrations had already taken place throughout France on December 11 to protest against the new Social Security finance law, which pools the journeys of medical patients.
Medical transport represented reimbursements of nearly 5.5 billion euros in 2022, and 65 million trips were made over the year for taxis and light medical vehicles (VSL) alone, according to the authors of the text of the law.
Nearly 15% of journeys are already shared. The idea is to reduce the cost of travel for Social Security by 100 million euros per year between 2025 and 2027, as well as pollution.
© 2024 AFP
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