Social. Patient transport professionals mobilized in large numbers on Wednesday, December 4, to denounce proposals likely to lead to “massive layoffs” and further harm fair access to care for the population.
The demonstrators did not expect such a welcoming committee. “Seeing that makes me sick!” » “As if we were going to break everything, we are not thugs!” » “It is also your parents and your children that we are transporting because they can no longer be treated here! » Widely mobilized, craftsmen and employees in the patient transport sector will have little taste for the presence of members of the police mobilized in order to prevent a hypothetical entry of demonstrators, on this cold December day, into the premises of the Primary health insurance fund (CPAM) of Chaumont.
The deployment of law enforcement ultimately testifies to the importance of the mobilization of professionals who came, peacefully, to express their demands. “Four convoys respectively left Bourbonne-les-Bains, Langres, Liffol-le-Petit and Saint-Dizier to join our Chaumont colleagues, in total, 135 vehicles reached Chaumont, 56 companies are represented,” explains Brigitte Schuk, president of the Haut-Marnais Taxis Union (UTHM).
Waiting times and empty returns
This mobilization particularly brought together “very motivated” employees, women and men worried about their future. This concern relates to negotiations relating to the invoicing of patient travel. “Every five years, we are obliged to sign a transport agreement for seated patients with the CPAM of our department as part of a decision by the National Health Insurance Fund (CNAM) and the Ministry of Health. As part of the last agreement, the single rate was set at 1.26 euros per kilometer for a consultation, the rate per hour of waiting was set at 27 euros, in the project presented to us, the time of waiting would no longer be paid. Regarding hospitalizations, the single rate was set at 2.52 euros per kilometer, the return, empty, was paid, we are now offered to go from 2.52 euros to 1.26 euros per kilometer for hospitalizations without any support for the empty return. We cannot accept this method of pricing calculation when our prices are calculated as accurately as possible to ensure the proper functioning of our businesses. At this stage, this agreement will lead to massive layoffs; companies will not be able to withstand such price reductions,” emphasizes Brigitte Schuk.
“Realities of our territory”
The convention contested by professionals would not take into account the realities of the territory. “We provide travel within the department but we are increasingly required to transport patients to Dijon, Reims, Nancy or Troyes. Difficulties in accessing care are known in Haute-Marne, in a department with many elderly people, we are increasingly required to transport patients to health establishments in neighboring departments. I started my career 27 years ago, when I started, we transported one patient per week to Dijon, now we make six to ten trips per day to Dijon. This convention does not take into consideration the realities of our territory,” notes the president of the UTHM.
Recalling that regular checks are carried out in order to identify possible fraud, the department's professionals also intend to be proactive. “We offer an effort of 1 to 1.50 euros per transport to be withdrawn from our invoices to contribute to health insurance savings, we are ready, together, to make savings”, specifies Brigitte Schuk while recalling that the profession is “at the service of the population”, a population facing a gradual medical desertification. After having exchanged, in recent weeks, with the deputy Christophe Bentz, the representatives of the profession were received, Wednesday November 4, 2024, by the deputy director of the CPAM and the chief of staff of the Prefecture.
T. Bo.
