Health insurance proposes to increase the consultation of 5 euros for general practitioners, provided that they commit themselves against medical desertification.
- Health insurance proposes to pass the consultation of a general practitioner to 30 euros.
- For this, they will have to accept a “territorial commitment contract”, in order to fight against medical deserts.
- The unions denounce an overload of work.
It is a conditional increase: Health Insurance offers general practitioners to increase the price of consultations to 30 euros, if they undertake to take measures to fight against medical deserts. But the proposal was not unanimous during negotiations held at the headquarters of the National Health Insurance Fund (Cnam), in Paris, Wednesday, February 22.
Consultation at 30 euros: conditions imposed on general practitioners
For the Cnam, the passage from 25 to 30 euros must be conditional on compliance with a “territorial commitment contract”. This implies that general practitioners, who practice in private practice, accept three lines of work: increasing the medical offer, financial access to care (compliance with sector 1 or 2 tariffs), and meeting the needs of the territory (permanence of care, coordinated exercise, etc.). “This proposal confirms the will of the Health Insurance to respond to the problem of access to care for all, by strongly supporting the liberal doctors who are committed to this same approach, in the logic of ‘give and take'”, specified the Cnam, quoted by There Dispatch. In the absence of a commitment in this direction, the organization proposes an increase to 26.50 euros in the price of the basic consultation, ie 1.50 euros more than currently.
General practitioners oppose the territorial commitment contract
But for generalists, the “territorial commitment contract” involves an increase in workload. “With this territorial commitment contract, we are creating something artificial, which leads to paying more than the basic rates of doctors who agree to overload themselves with work.said Raphaël Dachicourt, general secretary of ReAGJIR, a union of young doctors, at There Dispatch.
The collective Doctor for tomorrow speaks of a contract “aberrant” And “anti-liberal”. In a communicated, this group of doctors asks for a minimum remuneration of 35 euros per consultation, in order to anticipate the inflation of the next five years. “The 25 euros of 2016 will be worth just 35 euros in 2028″, it is specified in the text. For the collective, only a price of 50 euros per consultation will make it possible to develop the profession and guarantee its attractiveness, while adapting to inflation.
Price of the consultation: negotiations between general practitioners and health insurance
Since May 1, 2017, a consultation with a general practitioner, in sector 1 and without exceeding fees, is 25 euros. Several strike movements have been launched since the fall of 2022 to demand an increase in prices, while the unions and the Cnam are in negotiation. They must jointly set the price of the consultation, which will apply for the next five years. If no agreement is reached by February 28, an arbitrator will be in charge of drafting this new agreement.
