How could the “Rabbit Tax” of 5 euros on missed medical appointments be applied?

Each year, up to 27 million consultations are lost due to “rabbits” posed by patients who do not honor their medical appointments, according to the Order of Physicians and certain unions such as the UFML. An unacceptable reality for Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, who intends to “reclaim medical time” by implementing a “rabbit tax”. On paper, many are in favor of the introduction of this charge of 5 euros for each missed appointment but few are able to say what form this could take. A direct debit from Doctolib? A credit card imprint to leave when making an appointment? What about third-party medical appointments where there is no need to pay upfront?

While waiting to know the exact terms of this measure in preparation, which in any case requires the adoption of a new law, here are the answers to the main questions asked by both health professionals and patients.

Five euros. This is the amount of the financial penalty that Prime Minister Gabriel Attal would like to apply to each missed medical appointment.

What purpose ? According to Matignon, this tax would “respond to the major concerns of the French”, both “access to doctors” and “the ability to find an appointment within an acceptable time frame”. And the objective is ambitious, since the government shows its desire to recover 15 to 20 million medical slots.

In principle, anyone who makes a medical appointment for themselves or their children will be able to pay this penalty if they decide not to honor it. The idea is to sanction the patient who does not show up and who does not notify at least 24 hours in advance. Please note, however, that this penalty will remain in the hands of the doctor, who may decide not to apply it if he judges the patient's reasons to be valid.

Who says “tax” says tax levied by the State. There, in this case, despite the confusion induced by the term tax, it would indeed be a question of paying the 5 euros to the health professionals concerned as "compensation", and will remain for the benefit of the doctor who will have the mission of report it. not for the benefit of the public finances of the State.

Already in 2023, during the examination of the Social Security financing bill, the idea of ​​a “rabbit tax” was discussed. At the time, it was a question of claiming, in the event of a “no show”, a lump sum fixed by decree for the benefit of health insurance. The senators do not deny that part of this sum could then be paid directly to professionals.

This is the whole question that remains unanswered, because if it is possible to imagine leaving a bank imprint when making an appointment on Doctolib, it is difficult to do the same when you have regular appointments. in the hospital for example. The amount can be retained via the bank imprint by the appointment booking platforms or by the caregivers themselves if an appointment is made directly.

Questioned on this subject on Franceinfo, the Minister Delegate in charge of Health and Prevention Frédéric Valletoux assured this Monday that the implementation of this “rabbit tax” was “technically [...] entirely feasible”. He explained “that patients who make an appointment will leave their bank details on the reservation platforms”.

For professionals not on these platforms, “doctors will have the possibility of requesting bank details” by telephone. Their secretariats “may call patients to confirm appointments”. And if they do not show up, “the doctors can always ask them for five euros at the next consultation”, also informed the Minister of Labor Catherine Vautrin on RTL, without specifying the case where the patient never returns to the practitioner.

During the examination of the Social Security financing bill in Parliament at the end of 2023, Senator Corinne Imbert mentioned another solution: that the sum could “be paid directly by the insured person to their fund, taken from their account bank with its authorization or recovered, by the health insurance organization, from future benefits of all kinds.

Also read “If we have a medical appointment and we don’t come, we pay!” : Will Gabriel Attal succeed in applying the “rabbit tax”?

This measure requires a law, quickly examined by Parliament according to Matignon, who “hopes” for entry into force from 2025. Concretely, the government wants it to be put in place from January 1, 2025, on the online appointment platforms such as Doctolib.

There is an equivalent of the “rabbit tax” abroad. In Germany in particular, where patients pay 5 euros when making an appointment. This sum then remains with the professional in the event of no-show.