Price of consultations: new round of negotiations this Thursday between private doctors and Health Insurance

Will they reach a deal? The six liberal doctors' unions are meeting with Health Insurance this Thursday for a new round of price negotiations, with a unanimous diagnosis among them for the moment: "the account is not there". On February 8, during the last negotiation session on the price of consultations for the next five years, Health Insurance began to reveal its batteries.

She had thus proposed an increase to 30 euros for the consultation of the general practitioner (26.50 euros currently). Other upgrades would vary for specialists, with the desire to favor certain specialties that are worse off today, such as pediatrics or psychiatry. But for Doctor Margot Bayart, of the general practitioner union MG France, the Cnam's proposals remain insufficient to create the “shock of attractiveness” promised by the government, to stem the decline in the number of liberal general practitioners observed in recent years. The National Health Insurance Fund “has reviewed its copy” since the last round, “but the proposals are still insufficient,” she told AFP.

“It is not unlikely that we will throw in the towel and refuse to sign” a new agreement to enter into “price dissent,” warned Doctor Richard Talbot, of the Federation of Physicians of France. (FMF). For specialists, “the disappointment is great”, indicated for his part Doctor Franck Devulder, president of the CSMF (Confederation of French Medical Unions).

Certain specialties such as medical gynecologists or endocrinologists remain “poor relatives”, while others such as dermatologists and rheumatologists are “downright forgotten”, he said. For him, the negotiators will now “enter the “money time” (the decisive period of a sporting match, Editor's note) where strong decisions must be taken on both sides” to move towards an agreement.

Thomas Fatôme, general director of Health Insurance, indicated last week that Health Insurance still intended to “improve and clarify (its) proposals”. “But we are very gradually approaching the final copy and everyone will have to measure the gap between the “dreamed” agreement and what is on the table, and especially the consequences in the event of no agreement,” he added in an interview with Quotidien du Médecin.

According to Thomas Fatôme, the revaluation of consultation prices already on the table represents 700 million euros per year. The six representative unions participating in the negotiations are MG France, CSMF, FMF and UFML-S for generalists, and Avenir Spé-Le Bloc, CSMF, SML and UFML-S for specialists.