with the rise in prices of medical transport, patients and drivers are worried

In January 2025, the prices of medical taxi fares could well increase, to the point that some companies could go out of business. Drivers are worried about their turnover, but also about their customers who will no longer be able to go to their medical appointments.

It is eight o'clock, Stéphane Anselme is waiting outside his house for a taxi to come pick him up. Like every morning, this resident of Romette benefits from assistance reimbursed by the primary health insurance fund (CPAM) allowing him to go to the Gap clinic.

“I only have one arm”explains the patient, his second arm in the scarf following two shoulder operations. “And where we are, there is no public transport”adds Stéphane who therefore needs a taxi “every time he has a medical appointment”.

On site, he can follow his physiotherapy session, followed by a short time in the balneotherapy center located in the same place. Problem: this little comfort could well be taken away at the start of the 2025 school year. As of January 1, the CPAM plans to increase the price of medical shopping.

“We grant the fund 25% of our discounts compared to our prices which are set by the Ministry of the Economy”explains Romain Butera, taxi driver in the Hautes-Alpes.

“From January, they will ask us for up to 40% discount on these prices. But the margin for a taxi is 30%. Which means that this would lead to the bankruptcy of several thousand companies in France ”adds the staff representative, member of the sdepartmental union of taxi artisans (SDAT05).

The department lists 130 taxi companies. For most of them, medical trips represent 70 to 95% of their turnover.

They are always there when you need to talk to them, in good times and bad. No longer having them because the price changes is a very bad idea

Julien, patient

France 3 Provence-Alpes

“Small races like Stéphane's will no longer be profitable and no one accepts working at a loss. Medical taxis will fall back on ports, TGV stations, airports and will no longer pick up patients”underlines Romain Butera.

Last year, in the Hautes-Alpes, medical taxi journeys cost 10 million euros. In order to make savings, medical organizations have gradually, over the last ten years, decided to concentrate activities around large centers. Some field hospitals had to be closed. In exchange, the CPAM has set up taxi transport services.

If we add to this problem the aging of the population and the increase in chronic diseases, a question arises: how will patients go to medical establishments far from home?

“They are always there when we need them”

Stéphane asks: “lphysiotherapists do not travel every day. And daily balneotherapy, after exercises, which calms me down, I won’t have it at home”. The nursing home maintenance worker is, however, convinced that without this combination of physiotherapy and balneotherapy, he would not have recovered so easily.

“They are essential to our morale”adds Julien, Romain's second customer of the day. The latter had an appointment at 11:30 a.m. at the Gap medical center to treat cancer. This man has had numerous chemotherapy sessions and surgeries. He had to go to the Paoli-Calmettes Institute in Marseille, but also to Grenoble, and the taxi drivers were of great support to him.

Discussions at national level are underway. They must define new prices for 2025. The price will necessarily be reassessed downwards, but in rural areas poorly provided with medical centers, of which Hautes-Alpes is a part, taxis hope to obtain leeway to allow their services to operate. persist.