A social movement will concern approved taxis in the Urban Area this Monday, near the Nord Franche-Comté hospital. An open letter will be distributed.
Blockages are announced this Monday in Lyon and Paris. “For our part, we are not there yet, but we plan to toughen up the movement in the following days,” says Céline Legagneur, secretary of the taxi federation of the Territoire de Belfort.
“Since January, two colleagues have closed in the Territoire de Belfort”
“There are currently discussions with the national health insurance fund on the medical transport agreement. Last year, we already had a discount of 16 to 20%. It was already huge. Since January, two colleagues have closed in the Territoire de Belfort. There, we are asked to lower prices by 35 to 40%. This is not viable, especially since at the same time costs are increasing. We would be below our break-even point,” she explains.
In January, taxis in the Territoire de Belfort had already demonstrated for the same reasons.
The government wants to save money
Michel Barnier intends to make savings on medical transport, based on a recent report from the Court of Auditors which denounced cost slippage. The Prime Minister also relies on a report from the Drees (Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics) which, establishing the annual cost of medical transport at €6 billion, estimates €260 million of € per year the possible savings.
In 2022, Social Security financed 93.3% of the cost of medical transport, to compare with the reimbursement of medicines (72.7%) or community care (65.1%). In France, the average amount of medical transport paid by Social Security is €63 per year and per inhabitant, compared to €16, for example for Germany. The share of approved taxis in this transport in France increased from 16% in 1995 to 44% in 2022. At the same time, the share of VSL (light medical vehicles) fell from 46% to 14%. The Court of Auditors emphasizes that the average transport costs (these figures date back several years) are in the ratio of €91 for an ambulance, €51 for a taxi and €33 for a VSL.
Shared transportation incentive
Other avenues are being taken by Social Security: incentives for doctors to prescribe fewer transport vouchers, a digital platform to require shared transport, etc.
“You have to see the situations. I am in a rural area. If I can take two people at the same time, I do, but it's not easy to have two people doing Rougemont-le-Château-Trévenans at the same time. As for the VSLs, they generally make shorter journeys than us,” she continues.
“We have proposals, for example, of a saving package of €1.5 per ride. We would count on an annual saving of €75 million, which would just leave us to survive. The effort required at the moment is unsustainable and we have, until now, only obtained crumbs in the negotiations with the CNAM; of the order of 1%. Negotiations continue…” explains Céline Legagneur.
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