Will double, will not double? The scenario of an increase in medical deductibles, these amounts remaining the responsibility of the patient when he buys medicines (0.50 euros per box) or consults a doctor (with the fixed contribution of 1 euro per appointment) n It’s still not decided. It was again, in recent weeks, one of the main economic levers put forward by the government, in the preparation of its budget for 2024. One of those supposed to slow down the increase in health spending.
A few days before the presentation of the Social Security financing bill (PLFSS) to the Council of Ministers, on September 27, the “probable increase” of these franchises, still defended in these terms, at the beginning of September, by the Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, appears to be a particularly sensitive measure: at the Ministry of Health, at Health Insurance, in recent days we have locked down all communication on the device. It is impossible to know, from official sources, who pays what, how much these deductibles bring to the State, and how many patients reach the annual ceiling, set at 50 euros per person.
Monday September 19, during a meeting bringing together deputies from all walks of life around Aurélien Rousseau and his budget counterpart, Thomas Cazenave, the speech remained ” vague “and the tone “not very firm”according to participants.
“Sickness tax”
While inflation and purchasing power are at the heart of the French’s concerns, asking them to make an additional financial effort, especially when they are sick, is a risky political gamble. The first trial balloons on the subject, distilled in June by Bercy, have already seen, in the National Assembly, deputies from the New Ecological and Social Popular Union step up to the plate, mocking “accounting choices” and a measure dedicated to widening inequalities.
Fifty cents, 1 euro… 2 euros tomorrow? The amounts may seem modest, especially since these franchises, established fifteen years ago, have since then capped at 50 euros per year per patient, for the purchase of medicines and for consultations. Or 100 euros in total, maximum. A limit that Mr. Rousseau does not want to see exceeded.
The establishment, under the five-year term of Nicolas Sarkozy, in 2008, of franchises on boxes of medicines, but also on paramedical procedures (physiotherapy, nursing care) and medical transport, had given rise to as many petitions as calls for mobilization . A little over a decade later, and while no government since has touched these amounts, health stakeholders – doctors and patient associations in the lead – are, even before the final arbitration of the executive, headwinds against a “new tax on illness”.
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