Promotion of generics, fight against the overconsumption of antibiotics, limitation of the duration of certain prescriptions to fight against waste: medicines and medical devices are at the heart of a 2 billion euro savings plan that the Health Insurance.
Put the brakes on healthcare spending! According to a document presented on June 27 and made public by AFP, Health Insurance would prepare a plan aimed at achieving 2.07 billion euros in savings in 2020 against 2.01 billion euros in 2019. Measures which should curb the increase in health expenditure linked in particular to the aging of the population and the increase in the number of chronically ill patients whose treatment is increasingly costly.
An impact on patient care
The measures envisaged could have a direct impact on patient care. This would include limiting as much as possible the use of antibiotics, the overconsumption of which also plays a role in their lesser effectiveness. The means of action on this subject involves the authorization that pharmacists could benefit from in 2020 to carry out a diagnostic test to distinguish viral angina from bacterial angina, the latter being the only ones to justify the prescription of antibiotics. Health Insurance considers that these tests are not used enough by general practitioners. The savings targeted by this action against the overconsumption of antibiotics is 75 million euros.
Fight against the “waste” of medicines
Also in the crosshairs of Health Insurance, the prescriptions of analgesics, the reduction of which should save 55 million euros. And should be added to these measures the continued promotion of generic drugs with an objective of 45 million savings as well as a limitation of the duration of prescription of certain drugs or medical devices (for example dressings) to fight against “waste”. The Health Insurance affirms on this point that the professionals would regularly make the observation of “stocks of drugs and medical devices accumulated in the homes of patients” and hopes by its action to lead to 75 million euros in savings.
Savings on patient transport and hospitalizations
Other prescriptions on which the Health Insurance wishes to make an effort, those concerning the transport of the sick, in particular a recourse deemed too systematic to the ambulance. “Reality often leads to choosing transport by ambulance because this offer is easier to mobilize”, underlines the report of the Health Insurance. The objective would be to substitute 10% of journeys made by ambulance with other modes of transport, with the key to savings of 100 million euros.
Patient care could also be impacted by the desire to reach 70% of procedures carried out as day surgery by 2022 and by the development of home care for patients on dialysis or who must be monitored for the healing of surgical wounds. (200 million euros in savings).
Increased control for work stoppages
In parallel with these measures, the Health Insurance recalls that it will continue its efforts on expenses related to work stoppages by increasing the control of doctors detected as delivering a higher than average number of sick leaves and by monitoring companies more where the number of such sick leaves is particularly high. Finally, the Health Insurance plans to remain very vigilant on the allocation of means-tested benefits such as CMU.
The presentation of these savings paths comes two weeks after the publication on June 11 of the annual report of the Social Security accounts committee indicating that the Social Security accounts which were expected to break even this year for the first time since eighteen years should plunge back into the red with an expected deficit that would be between 1.7 and 4.4 billion euros.
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