Recalling that he himself comes from “a family of doctors” and ironic about the fact that he was the only one not to have succeeded in this path, Emmanuel Macron spent Tuesday evening during his press conference a long time to answer questions about health. Asked about medical deserts, while the left is multiplying legislative proposals to impose coercive measures on doctors and put an end to freedom of installation, the President of the Republic reiterated his opposition to such a measure. “Forcing installation is not the solution. After running the hospital for 5 years as interns, young people will leave the profession if constraints are imposed on them,” explained the Head of State. On the other hand, he pleaded for initiating an organizational revolution, implementing a remuneration reform favoring fixed rates rather than the rate per procedure, making the city and hospital work more together, or even delegating actions to paramedics. in line with the Rist law passed last spring.
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Emmanuel Macron also said on Tuesday that he wanted to “regularize a number of foreign doctors who sometimes hold our healthcare services at arm’s length” in order to fight against medical deserts. These doctors are today left “in administrative precariousness which is completely ineffective,” he argued. A few thousand practitioners qualified outside the European Union (Padhue) work in French public hospitals, as non-permanent, with lower salaries than European practitioners.
The President of the Republic also removed the vagueness on the doubling of medical deductibles from 0.50 to 1 euro per box of medicines, a project which was to be included in the Social Security budget last fall and was postponed until decisions by decree. This measure, which should bring in 800 million euros for Social Security, whose deficit is growing dangerously, will be adopted. “We are a country that treats well, but does not warn enough. We must ward off the fatality that causes us to consume too much medicine, explained the Head of State. Going from 0.50 to 1 € will make patients more responsible. It is a good measure and a fair measure because we will cap the system at €50 per year for people who often use medication, that is to say people with long-term illnesses (ALD),” explained Emmanuel. Macron. The President even justified his decision clearly: “When I see what our compatriots can spend on their telephone plans, going from 50 cents to one euro per box of medicine, it is not a terrible crime. We must take responsibility,” he insisted.
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Finally, since the appointment of Catherine Vautrin at the head of a sprawling ministry – encompassing occupational health and solidarity – the world of health is worried about not having a dedicated minister and the fact that prevention has disappeared from the title of his position. The Head of State reiterated the importance of prevention, which remains a central axis of his health policy. On the other hand, the Head of State did not return to the state of the hospital, and did not address the malaise of city medicine. In the end, few new announcements, rather the reaffirmation of convictions already stated several times.
