Posted 20 Dec. 2022 at 07:31 PMUpdated 20 Dec. 2022 at 19:54
The potion is bitter for the government. On Tuesday, the Constitutional Council challenged provisions of the 2023 Social Security budget, supposed to avoid abusive work stoppages, prevent an uncontrolled development of temporary work or even promote access for French people to a doctor outside working hours. opening of cabinets.
While teleconsultations exploded with the pandemic, the government had planned that work stoppages prescribed at the end of one of these remote appointments could not be compensated. And this, “unless the physical incapacity has been noted by the attending physician or by a doctor who has already received the person concerned in consultation for less than a year”. Defended in the name of the fight against social fraud, the measure has caused a lot of ink to flow at a time when many French people are struggling to access a doctor.
The Constitutional Council recalls that under the Constitution, any person who is “unable to work has the right to obtain suitable means of subsistence from the community”. The condition set by the government to compensate work stoppages “does not establish” that it would have been “unduly prescribed”, argue the wise men. What is more, even those who would have tried, in vain, to obtain an appointment with a doctor who had already consulted, risked being penalized.
Continuity of care
To prevent an uncontrolled development of temporary work, the government had also planned to regulate the use of this mode of work, which is very costly for establishments. The idea was to prevent young professionals from immediately embarking on temporary work by planning to authorize this only for professionals who had had a fixed position “for a minimum period”. The Constitutional Council considers that this provision has no place in a Social Security budget.
The same goes for the measure supposed to promote access for the French to health professionals, outside the opening of medical practices. The government wanted dental surgeons, midwives and state-qualified nurses to take part in “permanent care”, but the provision was rejected on the grounds that it relates above all to “the organization of certain health professions” with no direct effect on Social Security finances.
No advance of daily allowances
The Constitutional Council also rejects the measure requiring companies to advance to employees the compensation paid by the Health Insurance to people on maternity, paternity or adoption leave. The employers feared complications and loss of cash.
Seized on the provisions for the supervision of drug expenditure, the Constitutional Council, on the other hand, rejected the arguments put forward by deputies to contest the measures. Faced with an outcry from industrialists, the executive has largely corrected its copy on this subject. He will therefore not have to take up the pen again immediately. The sages also validated the provisions aimed at saving money on medical biology expenses. These are highly contested by interested professionals.
The Constitutional Council also rejected the idea that the budget was insincere. Opposition MPs criticized the executive, among other things, for having underestimated inflation for next year as well as the expenses to be expected to deal with the Covid-19 epidemic. The executive has planned to release 1 billion euros in this respect next year while it spent 11 billion euros on tests, vaccines and other actions to fight against the coronavirus last year. “It does not appear from the elements submitted to the Constitutional Council that these forecasts are insincere”, decide the sages of the Royal Palace.