The government is keen to make savings, but this may come at the expense of the French. As part of the Social Security Financing Bill 2024, Bruno Le Maire has announced a possible increase in the medical deductible and fixed contribution, starting next year. A measure that worries taxpayers and trade unions alike, as it would contribute to exacerbating the difficulty ofaccess to care, at a time when emergency departments are already saturated and referring doctors are becoming increasingly rare.
Today, and since 2008, with a prescription, your box of medicines bought in a pharmacy is reimbursed by the Social Security almost in full, with only 50 euro cents to pay. The same applies to nursing care and physiotherapy sessions, and a little more for medical transport. Except that, according to Les Echos, this medical deductible may well be doubled! So being ill is likely to cost more next year.
With this measure comes the doubling of the fixed contribution, which means less reimbursement for visits to the doctor or medical tests. According to the unions, this would"hit the lowest income earners hardest", but the decision is far from being finalized at the moment, although the savings would amount toone billion euros a year, according to the Ministry of the Economy and Finance.
