The bill for “aging well” was definitively adopted on Wednesday March 27, but where is “the great law” about old age? In unison, the speakers of the nine political groups in the Senate asked the question, during the final reading of the text. The bill indicates that the government will present a draft financial “programming law” for older people by the end of 2024. The provision was voted on in the text in November 2023. “We will carry out this programming law”, then launched the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne.
But the major reform is not on the agenda of Gabriel Attal’s government. “We will continue the work in order to draw all necessary consequences, including in the law”, defended Fadila Khattabi, the minister responsible for elderly and disabled people, on Wednesday. Without being able to evoke either method or timetable.
Although all the groups deplored the fact that the government’s commitment was now a dead letter, six of them nevertheless voted for the bill. The text even received wider support in the Senate than in the National Assembly. Only the communist group voted against. Socialist and environmentalist senators abstained.
While Les Républicains (LR) deputies abstained in the second reading on March 19, LR senators voted for the bill on Wednesday. The text includes measurements “likely to have a real and positive impact” on the daily lives of elderly people, welcomed Jean Sol, senator (LR) of Pyrénées-Orientales, co-rapporteur of the bill.
A one-stop shop for procedures
Among the provisions which have achieved consensus is the creation of the departmental public service of autonomy. This future one-stop shop will provide access to the range of services in the same area for elderly and disabled people. He will be “generalized from 2025”committed Mme Khattabi. Eighteen departments applied to test this access portal designed to facilitate procedures for families.
Articles aimed at combating elder abuse were also supported by senators. Drawing lessons from the tragedies caused by the weeks of isolation of residents in their nursing home rooms, deprived of any visits, during the Covid-19 epidemic, the bill makes the right to receive in these establishments almost unconditional, but also in the hospital.
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