the director of Health Insurance says he is “satisfied to have reached an agreement with private doctors”, after “difficult negotiations”

The agreement notably provides for an increase in the price of the consultation to 30 euros in exchange for a commitment from doctors to try to reduce health expenses. “It’s a convention that is rich, positive for access to care, for the quality of practices,” said Thomas Fatôme, Wednesday on franceinfo.

Thomas Fatôme, director of Health Insurance, said Wednesday June 5 on franceinfo “satisfied to have reached an agreement with liberal doctors”even if “the negotiations were difficult.” After approximately 18 months of discussions, Health Insurance and a majority of liberal doctors’ unions signed a new agreement. In particular, it provides for an increase in the consultation to 30 euros in exchange for a commitment from doctors to modify their practices to try to reduce health expenses.

For Thomas Fatôme, it is “an agreement which is rich, positive for access to care, for the quality of practices, prescriptions and which will allow us to move forward to transform the health system and improve access to care for patients”.

For the patient, this will not change anything. The consultation is financed 70% by Health Insurance and 30% by complementary health insurance. This new agreement is “a significant investment” for health insurance. There will therefore be compensations. Doctors are committed to tending towards “sobriety in prescriptions”, assures Thomas Fatôme.

“It also means savings, fewer work stoppages, fewer unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions.”

Thomas Fatôme, director of Health Insurance

on franceinfo

Health Insurance and doctors’ unions have agreed on fifteen action programs: “If we reduce the trend in work stoppages, if we slow down the progression by 2% per year, that’s savings for Health Insurance”. More broadly, Thomas Fatôme believes that it is possible to control health spending “if we have fewer unnecessary biology and radiology prescriptions, if we have more suitable transport, if we use more shared transport”.

Thomas Fatôme wishes to support doctors in these new practices, but does not rule out sanctions. “If we have to do, of course, checks, fight against abuse, we will do it, we already do it for work stoppages”, he said. This new agreement “is a commitment from each doctor, ultimately, to dialogue with Health Insurance, to change their practices. This is how we are going to move the health system”he assures.

Sick leave represents 12 billion euros of expenditure for Social Security in 2022. The Court of Auditors recommends no longer compensating sick leave of less than eight days. “Health insurance is attached to a work stoppage system which helps protect employees and self-employed workers when they cannot work because they are sick”, reassures Thomas Fatôme. But “our responsibility for us, Health Insurance, is to ensure that work stoppages are used wisely”, he explains. He says to himself “mobilized” For “ensure that each work stoppage is medically justified”. According to him, “there is still a lot of work to do”.