taxis on strike Monday morning against compulsory health carpooling

Taxis are mobilizing Monday, December 11 early in the morning in several cities in France to protest against article 30 of the Social Security financing law, report several locals from the France Bleu network. This article provides that if a patient, although his state of health permits, refuses to share an approved taxi or a vehicle from a medical transport company with other patients, then the reimbursement of transport costs will be reduced.

The government explains that in 2022, shared transport has made it possible to reduce Health Insurance expenditure by 34 million euros. “From now on, the rule becomes shared transport: the patient is no longer at the center of transport, he will be obliged to be in a medical pick-up for his appointments, with longer waiting times before and after, and detours of sometimes 50 km before returning home”explains to France Bleu Pays Basque the vice-president of the Chambre syndicale des Taxis Béarn Pays Basque.

Snail operations and filter dams

Actions are planned in Lille and Hauts-de-France, with filter dams between 7:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. in Lille, and snail operations in the region. Traffic is expected to be difficult on several surrounding highways.

Similar disruptions are expected in Avignon, where around a hundred taxis must mobilize from 7:30 a.m. In Toulouse, taxis will parade from 6:30 a.m. leaving from the city’s airport. In Bayonne, taxis from all over the Basque Country organize a snail operation between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Several hundred taxis are expected in Bordeaux from 7 a.m.