2023-05-03 16:48:31
Taxing medical appointments canceled without warning because they cause the loss of quantities of consultation slots: the executive is in favor of it. It remains to find the right formula, between Emmanuel Macron who calls for “sanctions”, his Minister of Public Accounts Gabriel Attal, who draws what this “rabbit tax” could be, and that of Health, François Braun, who alert on the risks of renouncing treatment.
“We have to make patients more responsible: those who do not come to appointments, we are going to punish them a little”, declared the Head of State recently in an interview with readers of “Parisien”, reiterating comments made during the wishes to health in January. This sanction could take the form of a lower reimbursement on the following treatment, imagined Gabriel Attal: 10 euros paid half to the practitioner and the other to Health Insurance.
9 million “rabbits”
Speaking this Wednesday morning on France Inter, François Braun put the problem into perspective, without denying it. Numbers first: appointments not honored represent 3.5% of appointments made via a platform (double for doctors who do not use it), or 9 million appointments. “It’s still too much,” he said.
However, patients do not do it on purpose in most cases. “We can forget,” tempers the Minister of Health. Be careful therefore “that the remedy is not worse than the disease”. Clearly, a puncture of a few euros for poor French people can push them to give up care.
It is therefore urgent not to rush by continuing to work with online appointment booking platforms to reduce the practice. How ? For example, by reinforcing the messages explaining the consequences of a missed appointment. If there is a sanction, it will rather concern repeat offenders, those who pose rabbits on rabbits, unconcerned about patients who themselves need to consult.
“We will also work with Health Insurance, medical appointment booking platforms, patient associations and doctors to find the most suitable solution to put an end to manifestly abusive behavior”, we are assured. in the entourage of François Braun.
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