The three giants of private clinics, Elsan, Ramsay and Vivalto, asked the government on Thursday to “review its copy” concerning hospital pricing which gives pride of place to the public sector and which risks, according to them, leading to a “reduction in costs”. care ".
“We are asking that the government review its copy. We collectively ask to be received and listened to” by the Ministry of Health, declared Sébastien Proto, executive president of Elsan during an unprecedented press conference with his competing counterparts.
They strongly criticized the government decision to increase the prices of public hospitals and the non-profit sector by 4.3% in 2024, but only by 0.3% those of private establishments.
“The more we treat, the more we work at a loss”
“If we wanted to erase the consequences of inflation, we would have had to increase prices by 10%” in 2024, estimated Sébastien Proto. Without going that far, private establishments are demanding a 3.2% increase in their prices, so that “2024 is not another year of profound deterioration”.
“The more we treat, the more we work at a loss, it’s untenable”, due to “inflation which has not been compensated”, said Pascal Roché, general director of Ramsay Santé. Together, the three competitors provide “40% of cancer treatment each year,” he added.
Consequences on medical deserts
The decision to “underfund” private health centers, which are very present in the territories, will result, according to them, in increasing medical deserts. The consequences will also be economic, according to Sébastien Proto: “There will necessarily be restructuring” from this year and a decline in investment capacity to support modernization.
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The three groups have 300 hospitals in total in France, 5 million patients treated, 60,000 employees including 16,000 private doctors and nearly 500 million euros of investment each year.