The contours of the
“rabbit tax”
, which should penalize unfulfilled medical appointments (27 million per year*), were clarified this Saturday by Gabriel Attal. During an exchange with journalists from the regional press, the Prime Minister announced that this tax would come into force on January 1, 2025. And an amount.
If the appointment is not canceled at least 24 hours in advance, the penalty may amount to five euros, intended for the practitioner, regardless of the income of the said patient.
“Whether we have financial difficulties or not, we have the same rights and duties
,” declared the head of government.
Exceptions will however be possible: the practitioner will have control over the sanction and may decide not to apply it if he considers that his patient did not have the means to cancel or that he has too few resources.
The head of government had already announced during his general policy declaration his desire to implement this so-called “rabbit tax” sanction. This is part of a battery of measures announced on Saturday to try to respond to the crisis in the city healthcare system with the desire to recover 15 to 20 million medical slots.
Bank details
In April 2023, while he was at the Ministry of Action and Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal was instead considering a financial penalty of ten euros and dividing this sum in two, five euros for the practitioner, five euros for Insurance disease. The system was currently considered too complicated.
If collecting these five euros will be easy for appointment reservations that require you to leave your bank details, what can you do for others? On this point, the Prime Minister did not provide further details.
To come to fruition, these announcements must receive the vote of parliamentarians. In mid-February, elected officials from the majority tabled a bill. The Prime Minister could take advantage of this opportunity to include these new details.
*According to the Regional Union of Health Professionals of Île-de-France