After the June sales, it’s time for back-to-school bidding. And, in this area, liberal doctors excel. At least, their representatives.
President of the main trade union organization, the CSMF, Dr Jean-Paul Ortiz asks that the minimum basic price of a consultation of a general practitioner and a specialist be increased to 30 euros against 23 and 25 today, relate your logs. “The price of 23 euros is disconnected from the daily reality of the general practitioner”, pleads the leader of the CSMF.
This claim is, to say the least, disconnected from economic reality, could easily retort Marisol Touraine. How, indeed, to claim a 30% increase (for general practitioners) while the Health Insurance suffers from its deficits and that an increasingly large proportion of households can no longer access care!
Certainly, this statement comes in a context of professional elections where union leaders are trying to mobilize doctors to garner votes. All shots are allowed.
But these slogans, if they find an echo with a distraught profession, aren’t they counter-productive? A staunch defender of liberal medicine, Dr. Ortiz actually scores own goals. It provides grist for those who argue that unions are no longer credible and for new health actors who argue that the fee-for-service model is no longer viable.
The latter are likely to win the bet with public authorities who did not ask for so much!
