If the Barnier government is censored this week on the Social Security financing bill (PLFSS) for 2025, what happens to the progress obtained by pharmacists?
In the Social Security financing bill (PLFSS) for 2025, pharmacists had obtained at the end of the joint joint committee (CMP) key measures to promote the substitution of biosimilars (principle of commercial discounts on the purchase of biosimilar and hybrid medicines, reduction of the time limit for automatic registration of similar biological groups on the list of substitutable groups) or to combat drug shortages (increased information on availability via DP Rupture, compulsory conditional dispensation in the event of a rupture or risk of a rupture in supply or in order to preserve the availability of medicines for which demand is subject to seasonal variations).
If the Barnier government falls in the event of censorship, “everything goes in the trash”, summarizes Philippe Besset, president of the Federation of Pharmaceutical Unions of France (FSPF). “In the event of the overthrow of the Barnier government, the PLFSS in its current version will not apply. A new text could see the light of day by the end of the year, which could take up most of the measures contained in the current version, subject to the very rapid formation of a new government and a vote of this text within 15 days, or adoption via 49.3 but avoiding a new motion of censure…, explains Jérôme Koenig, general director of the Union of Community Pharmacists Unions (USPO). Otherwise, to avoid a complete blockage, the future government could resort to emergency mechanisms, such as a “special law” allowing the extension of the provisions and amounts resulting from the PLFSS 2024. Another option would be to submit a draft amending law to set borrowing ceilings or unblock certain urgent measures. » Before concluding: “All this is naturally very theoretical because it has never been seen before…”
More generally, “there is a technical problemadds Senator Corinne Imbert (Les Républicains), secretary of the Senate Social Affairs Committee and pharmacist. If there is no PLFSS, the fund which manages the Social Security cash flow, Acoss, is not authorized to borrow to finance its services. Social Security will no longer be able to pay. » According to several sources close to the administrations who confided it to AFP, Social Security only has a few months of cash reserves.
“There may be an exceptional text presented by the resigning government but which must be presented before the end of the year. Otherwise there may be another PLFSS for 2025 which will be examined during the first half of the year. continues Senator Corinne Imbert.
On the other hand, if the Barnier government is maintained, it is the text of the CMP which will be adopted in the National Assembly. A vote is planned in the Senate on Thursday, December 5.
In the senator's opinion, “The situation is catastrophic.”
