This involves hunting down “rabbit posers” at the doctor’s office, and “empower” the patients. To combat the increase in last-minute cancellations, the Senate adopted, on Thursday, November 16, the principle of penalizing patients by voting on an amendment aimed at “put a lump sum on insured persons who do not honor a community care appointment”. This sum, called the “rabbit tax”, would be partly paid by Health Insurance to the healthcare professionals concerned.
The amendment was voted on as part of the Social Security financing bill (PLFSS) for 2024, examined this week at the Palais du Luxembourg.
The government has given an unfavorable opinion on the proposed mechanism and will be able to reject it thanks to article 49.3 activated in the National Assembly to have the PLFSS adopted without a vote. But he was open on the issue.
“This subject must be referred to conventional negotiation”said the Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, explaining that he did not “did not find the solution” which would allow patients to be treated fairly according to their method of making appointments (platforms such as Doctolib, telephone, etc.).
Medical franchises: “no decision made”
To make its decision, the senatorial majority – right and center – relied on figures from the Academy of Medicine and the National Council of the Order of Physicians: these organizations estimate between 6% and 10% the proportion of patients who would not show up for their health appointments.
The Senate also questioned, on Thursday, the Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, on the possible doubling of medical deductibles – the rest payable by the insured when they buy medicines (50 euro cents per box) or when they see a doctor (1 euro per consultation).
Mentioned, this increase does not appear in the PLFSS at present: “The decision has not been made”, explained Aurélien Rousseau. The minister assessed the impact of the measure “17 euros per year on average” for the insured.