The contours of the “rabbit tax”, which must penalize unfulfilled medical appointments (27 million per year*), were clarified this Saturday by Gabriel Attal. During an exchange with journalists from the regional press, the Prime Minister announced that this tax would come into force on January 1, 2025. And an amount.
If the appointment is not canceled at least 24 hours in advance, the penalty may amount to five euros, intended for the practitioner, regardless of the income of the said patient. “Whether we have financial difficulties or not, we have the same rights and duties,” declared the head of government. Exceptions will however be possible: the practitioner will have control over the sanction and may decide not to apply it if he considers that his patient did not have the means to cancel or that he has too few resources.
The head of government had already announced during his general policy declaration his desire to implement this so-called “rabbit tax” sanction. This is part of a battery of measures announced on Saturday to try to respond to the crisis in the city healthcare system with the desire to recover 15 to 20 million medical slots. According to Matignon, this is about “responding to the major concerns of the French: access to doctors, the ability to find an appointment within an acceptable time frame”. Gabriel Attal also announced that the number of places in the second year of medicine would be increased to 12,000 in 2025 compared to 8,150 in 2017.
In April 2023, while he was at the Ministry of Action and Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal was instead considering a financial penalty of ten euros and dividing this sum in two, five euros for the practitioner, five euros for Insurance disease. The system was currently considered too complicated.
If collecting these five euros will be easy for appointment reservations that require you to leave your bank details, what can you do for others? On this point, the Prime Minister did not provide further details. France could take inspiration from Germany where patients pay 5 euros when making an appointment, the amount remaining with the professional in the event of no-show.
Gabriel Attal announces that he will “experiment” in 13 departments with “direct access” to masseurs-physiotherapists, provided for by the Rist law, but also direct access to specialist doctors, without the patient needing to go through a general practitioner, an idea that already makes some unions bristle.
Another “pillar” of access to care: evening calls (6 p.m. to midnight) and weekends in city practices. Today, “5% of the territories are not covered,” underlines Matignon.
So that “every French person always has a doctor on call less than 30 minutes from home”, the executive wishes to grant “financial assistance” to any doctor who agrees to be temporarily “on call” outside their area.
He also wants to ask other caregivers to participate, in particular nurses, who could do a “first filter”, midwives, or even dentists. But the return of “custody obligations” is not immediately on the agenda.
The executive will finally strengthen its “My Psycho Support” system: the amount of the reimbursed consultation will increase from 30 to 50 euros, with now 12 consultations per year with direct access.
The Prime Minister also wants to open the possibility for pharmacists to dispense antibiotics for tonsillitis and cystitis from June.
To come to fruition, Gabriel Attal’s announcements will have to receive the vote of parliamentarians. In mid-February, elected officials from the majority tabled a bill. The Prime Minister could take advantage of this opportunity to include these new details.
*According to the Regional Union of Health Professionals of Île-de-France