Hundreds of “angry” taxi drivers disrupted traffic on Monday around Lyon (Rhône), where the movement continued on Tuesday, and in the South, to protest against an agreement currently being negotiated with Health Insurance for the transport of seated patients, including lower pricing for patient transport and an obligation to use “shared taxis”.
The movement had started before dawn. With hazard lights on, some 150 vehicles parked on an interchange west of Lyon, without completely blocking traffic, as at other sites of action. “Angry taxis”, “medical taxi in danger”, we could read on some.
Tariff reductions imposed
Among them, Nicolas Galliot, 43, from Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme). At the head of a taxi company, medical transport represents 60 to 70% of his turnover. “But for country taxis, it can go up to 100%,” he specifies.
If this agreement is adopted, it will be “to the detriment of my employees, the value of our licenses, but above all patients,” he says. But what does this agreement consist of, which could be signed in December?
In order to make 300 million euros in savings on this medical transport, the Barnier government, threatened with censorship, wishes to force taxis and medical transporters to negotiate measures with Health Insurance, under penalty of imposed price reductions.
In addition, a decree implementing the Social Security budget for 2024 provides that a patient can no longer refuse, with some exceptions, shared medical transport, under penalty of having to advance the costs and being reimbursed only on the basis shared transportation. Patients must also be treated in less than 45 minutes, and by geographic area with a kilometer detour limit per patient.
In 2023, more than 40,000 taxis were approved to transport sick people suffering from pathologies ranging from cancer to psychiatric illnesses, according to Health Insurance, or almost three quarters of taxis in France. With a certain cost: “Health transport expenses are increasing again at a very high rate (+ 8.2% in 2022)”, reported in particular the Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (Drees ) in a study published last November.
“Deterioration of service”
For the government, this measure voted by Parliament in the fall of 2023 aims to improve the transport offer and reduce costs as well as the environmental footprint. The unions, for their part, assure that this law will only reinforce the difficulties encountered by taxi drivers who are already suffering from competition from VTCs.
“Not only will we wait a very long time to fill the car, we will make endless rounds, but we will also deteriorate the service that we have put in place for years with patients,” according to Abdel Grine , president of the Federation of Independent Taxis of the Rhône (FTI69).
Disturbances in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur also took place, such as at the entrances to Toulon or at the Lançon-de-Provence toll, one of the largest on the A7 where some 800 taxis from Marseille and the region blocked payment channels until around 7 p.m., according to operator Vinci. On the other hand, around 150 taxis blocked all lanes except one at the Bandol (Var) toll “which will remain busy all night and until Tuesday afternoon”, according to the Var prefecture.
Demonstrations had already taken place earlier in the year in France, particularly in Île-de-France and Paris.
