Fiasco of the new Social Security software, thousands of users are still not compensated

Faulty software and helpless policyholders. Despite 30,000 installments paid and 25 million euros released, the Primary Health Insurance Funds of Vendée and Loire-Atlantique do not yet have a lasting solution to regularize the payment of daily allowances to thousands of users. A Kafkaesque situation with disastrous financial and human consequences.

While the implementation of the new CPAM user account management software was supposed to allow Social Security to save staff and pay daily allowances and compensation income for patients, it is quite the opposite which happened.

The origin of this “malfunction” is well known. It responds to the sweet name of Arpège. Software developed by the firm Sopra Stéria, which notably manages military pay. First tested in Loire-Atlantique and Vendée, the algorithm must be deployed throughout the territory.

It was without counting “the difficulty of moving from an aging computer system to another system with different logic. We had a corrective version on December 19 which made it possible to correct certain malfunctions. New work stoppages, for example, are correctly compensated. And we expect another correction at the end of January”, explains Pierre Peix, director of the CPAM of Loire-Atlantique.

However, since October, daily allowances linked to occupational illnesses, work stoppages and therapeutic part-time work prescribed before January 2025 in Loire-Atlantique are no longer paid to policyholders.

“In recent weeks, 7,000 policyholders have received a deposit and regularization. However, 3,500 files are still outstanding, despite the means deployed to resolve the situation. Two hundred people are working on these dysfunctions, contacting policyholders and regularize their files”, the director further specifies.

Behind the file numbers and computer screens, however, there are many households whose lives have been destabilized by the absence of income for several months.

These are bills that we can no longer pay, loan repayments that we postpone, expenses that we postpone, care that we suspend, travel that we limit… everything feverishly checking her Ameli account daily, despairing of seeing her daily allowances drop.

Many policyholders are in great distress. Some arrive at reception and tell the reception staff that they can no longer afford to eat… it’s very violent for our colleagues, they can no longer sleep at night.

Kevin Moisdon

CGT delegate of the CPAM of Loire-Atlantique

“We are guinea pigs, powerless to manage this tool, and without an exit solution”adds the union delegate, who specifies that a right to alert concerning degraded working conditions has been launched by the inter-union.

The director of the CNAM was also questioned, on December 17, by the unions who wanted to know more about the contract which linked Social Security to the multinational Sopra Stéria which develops this tool. No response. “The only thing we were told is that ‘the core of the software works’. And that fixes are in progress.”

To try to deal with the dysfunctional files, around a hundred technicians from other primary funds were called in for reinforcement. But the number of files and their complexity is such that it will take several months before returning to a semblance of normality for all policyholders.

“We estimate that around 10,000 people in our two departments still have problems receiving their compensation.” indicates Pascale Goilot who since October 22 has run a Facebook page dedicated to these dysfunctions with five other people.

“We always collect a lot of testimonies in Vendée, like this lady on maternity leave who has not received her daily allowance, or this other, who cannot receive her pension, because she also depends on her allowance”says Pascale Goilot.

“Over the last three days, 150 people have completed our form to report their situations. We met with the management of the CPAM de la Vendée who assured us that several hundred cases had been resolved, but several hundred is very wave”, continues Pascale Goilot, visibly annoyed.

However, Arpège has already proven itself in terms of bugs. Used for four years in the management of compensation for self-employed workers, this IT tool was supposed to facilitate exchanges and regulate payments while making it possible to increase the number of employees from 3 people to 0.5 FTE.

But the system errors are such that 10 agents are still dedicated to this service.

For users, this administrative crisis is far from over. Because the daily allowances paid by the funds are considered replacement income on which CAF allowances, CCAS vouchers and activity bonuses also depend, for example. IJs are also taxable. “This could cause serious problems when filing taxes.” underlines Kevin Moisdon again.

If on the CPAM side, we hope for a return to normal next March, Pascale Goilot does not believe it. “With the delays that have accumulated, I do not see the situation improving before June. We have managed to find solutions by reporting situations on a case-by-case basis. In Loire-Atlantique, the CPAM is of good will and intervenes fairly quickly, but many people don’t really know what is happening and feel helpless. We need to get the message across to them so that they can mobilize and find a solution for as long as possible. ‘insured’.

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