In his general policy speech, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal had promised on January 30 to tackle the difficulties French people face in accessing healthcare. In an interview with several regional press titles on Saturday, April 6, the government leader provided details on the measures he intends to implement to address the crisis in the primary care system, with the goal of recovering 15 to 20 million medical appointments. Attal wants to introduce a financial penalty of 5 euros, known as the “no-show tax,” for patients who fail to show up for medical appointments in the future, aiming to hold individuals accountable for missed appointments. According to the Order of Physicians and some unions like UFML, the cost of these missed appointments is estimated at 27 million consultations lost each year.
The government aims to implement a penalty of 5 euros on online appointment platforms such as Doctolib starting January 1, 2025, for patients who do not show up and do not provide at least twenty-four hours’ notice. This financial penalty will be paid by the patient to the benefiting doctor, who will be responsible for reporting it. In addition, around 4,000 additional medical assistants will be deployed to take care of various administrative tasks, aiming to alleviate the workload of healthcare professionals. Attal also wants to reclaim time slots, particularly on weekends and evenings from 6 pm to midnight, where the lack of general practitioners is more severe, in order to prevent patients from having to seek care at emergency rooms.
In thirteen test departments, one per major region, patients will be able to visit a physiotherapist or a specialist without a prescription. Attal also mentioned other measures, such as increasing the number of places for second-year medical students from 10,000 in 2023 to 12,000 in 2025 and 16,000 in 2027, transitioning from the previous restricted admission system to an “open number” starting in 2035. The Prime Minister plans to experiment with direct access to specialists without the need for a referral from a general practitioner in certain departments, contrary to the current practice. He also expressed concern about the declining mental health of young people, particularly the significant increase in suicidal ideation among high school students, and the failure of the Mon soutien psy program, which provides eight reimbursed sessions with a psychologist but has not produced the desired results.
Attal aims to revamp the Mon soutien psy program, which was launched in spring 2022 to provide access to eight sessions with a psychologist covered by health insurance and supplementary insurance, upon a doctor’s recommendation. These sessions are targeted at individuals with mild to moderate psychiatric issues but have not yielded the expected outcomes, according to the Prime Minister. The government is looking to address the increasing mental health challenges facing young people and improve access to mental health services, reflecting a broader effort to reform the healthcare system and enhance patient responsibility for appointments. The proposed measures aim to alleviate the strain on healthcare professionals and improve healthcare access for all French citizens.
