An amendment to combat medical deserts was tabled by a senator as part of the 2017 PLFSS review.
Lawmakers are tackling the thorny issue of medical deserts in France. As part of the examination in public session of the bill for the financing of social security (PLFSS) for 2017 in the Senate, Hervé Maurey (Eure) tabled an amendment with several of his UDI and LR colleagues establishing a mechanism for agreement selection of doctors in order to fight against medical desertification.
“This amendment provides that in over-endowed areas, that is to say areas in which there is a strong surplus in terms of the supply of care, a new liberal doctor cannot set up with an agreement with the Health insurance only when a liberal doctor from the same area ceases his activity, ”specifies the senator de l’Eure and chairman of the regional planning and sustainable development commission.
Freedom of installation
This system of regulation, based on a selective agreement “without calling into question the principle of free installation”, already exists for most health professions (nurses, midwives, speech therapists, dental surgeons) and “has largely done proof of its effectiveness, ”explains Hervé Maurey.
For the senator, “this amendment proposes a solution to respond to the increasingly alarming situation in terms of medical demography. The incentive policies put in place for 25 years have not been up to the problem affecting our territories, and it is urgent to respond to this health divide with concrete measures. “
This amendment, which should be examined this Wednesday or Thursday morning in public session, uses the terms of the one adopted unanimously by the Committee on Regional Planning and Sustainable Development of the Senate during the examination, at first reading , of the Health bill. It also takes up the system proposed by the Social Affairs Committee of the National Assembly during the first reading examination of the PLFSS.
In 2015, the Order of Physicians listed 192 medical deserts in which nearly 2.5 million people live.
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