The National Assembly voted on the night of Friday, October 23 the principle of a new "package" of 18 euros for patients going to the emergency room without then being hospitalized, despite strong reservations from the left.
Acted as part of the Social Security budget project, this “emergency patient package” will replace the current “co-payment” which leaves the patient with 20% of the cost of his care.
To read also: A "package" paying from 2021 for emergency visits without hospitalization
This remaining charge is 19 euros on average at the public hospital currently but can be very high for some patients, underlined the general rapporteur Thomas Mesnier (LREM), evoking with this reform a
"question of simplification"
.
"It is a measure which does not bring anything"
, also affirmed the Minister of Health Olivier Véran:
"The interest is not financial but to mobilize staff at the hospital to do something other than billing"
.
He assured Boris Vallaud (PS) that there was no objective by this means of regulating passages to emergencies, which are experiencing congestion.
But François Ruffin (LFI) said his
"concern that
(this package)
contributes to being an obstacle to care"
for some people without means.
Read also: What does the hospital package correspond to?
Thomas Mesnier indicated that the package would be supported by mutuals, from the responsible contract, as well as by complementary health solidarity and even state medical aid for undocumented migrants.
The deputies added to the device an exemption for pregnant women from the sixth month of pregnancy and for newborns for thirty days.
People with long-term care will be subject to a reduced package.
By an amendment, the government postponed the implementation of this new package from January 1 to September 1, 2021.