Wheelchairs will be fully reimbursed “before the end of 2024”

The initial envelope dedicated to the measure, around 300 million euros, was considered insufficient to ensure the full reimbursement of all chairs.

Wheelchairs will be fully reimbursed “before the end of 2024”assured, Thursday April 11, the ministers in charge of Health and Disability, who claim to have a budgetary boost. “The commitment made by Emmanuel Macron to fully reimburse wheelchairs, electric and manual, will be kept before the end of 2024”confirmed to AFP the Minister responsible for Disabled People Fadila Khattabi.

Promised by the Head of State during the national disability conference in April 2023, the reimbursement of wheelchairs has since been the subject of negotiations between the Social Security department, industrial manufacturers and distributors. The initial envelope dedicated to the measure was estimated at around 300 million euros, according to the ministry. However, it was considered insufficient to ensure full reimbursement for all chairs, manual or electric, standard or specific. “We asked the president to extend the initial envelope, which he accepted”specified the Minister of Health Catherine Vautrin, in a daily interview The cross.

One million people affected

The government, however, refused to give the amount of this budget extension so as not to whet the appetites of industrialists during the negotiations. The measure will be covered by health insurance and complementary health insurance, with no additional cost to the user.

Currently, the price of a manual chair can reach up to 10,000 euros, that of an electric one up to 50,000 euros. The project provided for a reimbursement base of 2,600 euros for a manual chair (compared to 600 euros today), and 18,000 euros for an electric one (compared to 5,200 euros). “These figures are no longer relevant. Today, everything is put back on the table”says Fadila Khattabi to The cross. “The average of the remainder payable until now was 900 euros. For 60 000 people, that exceeds 5 000 euros. It is not normal”added the minister.

A million people need a wheelchair, the majority of them elderly, a number set to increase with aging.