New action by taxi drivers this Monday morning. They are demonstrating against a proposed new pricing for medical transport, when they transport patients to the hospital for example. They have already mobilized in Paris, Bordeaux, Toulouse, and even in recent days. And they promise to block Marseille and Lyon this Monday.
The morning is likely to be very complicated for motorists from Lyon and Marseille. Taxi drivers have promised to block the two towns this Monday morning. The prefectures of Rhône and Bouches-du-Rhône recommend that motorists postpone their travel.
They are protesting against the agreement, currently being negotiated, with Health Insurance, particularly on the transport of seated patients. Pricing should be revised downwards.
Yannick Gengembre is the manager of a Lyon-based company specializing in medical transport. She has five taxis and six employees. And his fear is to have to close. “We are being forced to reduce our turnover by between 30 and 40%,” she laments. A drop caused by the reduction in medical transport prices desired by Health Insurance.
“All companies that lose 30 to 40% of their turnover in one month, they stop, they lay off workers. I don't make 40% profits so if they take away 40% of my turnover, I die,” she assures us.
“Without the sanitary facilities I would die”
Guest on RMC this Monday morning, Florian, taxi driver, explains to us why he is going to join the mobilization in Lyon this Monday. “I took over the business from my mother who started the company in 1993 and I'm afraid of not knowing 2025. So mobilized, tired, angry. We've been negotiating this agreement for a year, every five years, we renegotiate it. We were at 5% social security discount, 10 years ago we went to 10%, now we are at 11.6%… All the agreements require us. efforts, but until when? We are talking about 40,000 companies which risk going out of business,” he confides.
“It’s the last chance mobilization. If I no longer have sanitation, if I no longer have my patients, if I no longer have my sick, I will die,” he adds.
A risk for patients?
Financial concerns, but also health concerns. There could be more patients in vehicles. A bad idea for associations defending users of the health system.
“Patients must not be put in danger. An immunocompromised patient, who is undergoing very heavy chemotherapy, or a transplant recipient, or someone who is on dialysis, must have specific conditions that are protective. Being with other patients, there can be infections which are dangerous for these people,” explains Catherine Simonin, member of the France Asso Santé office.
The reform should come into force at the beginning of 2025.
Vincent Chevalier with Guillaume Descours
