Too many sick leaves in France? 500 general practitioners in the sights of health insurance

The National Health Insurance Fund is tightening the screws on sick leave. According to Le Parisien and Franceinfo , 500 general practitioners have been targeted by the National Health Insurance Fund for their excessive prescriptions. The stated objective: to reduce spending, while the health insurance branch alone accounts for 39% of the overall budget.

These practitioners are accused of granting more sick leave than average. Some have already been offered "targeting" to reduce their prescriptions by 20 to 30%. This prospect is not going down well.

"We treat patients and we are asked to respect figures," an indignant Bordeaux doctor told Le Parisien.

160 million already saved

Specifically, according to Franceinfo, the affected general practitioners will first receive a letter from the Health Insurance Fund to justify the volume of sick leave they have issued. Depending on their responses, a target may be set.

For practitioner representatives, this policy is a mistake. "There are companies that have three times more sick leave than others among their employees. We need to ask the right questions, particularly regarding working conditions in companies and management. We don't want to see people throwing themselves out of windows," denounces Sophie Bauer, president of the Union of Independent Doctors, quoted by Franceinfo.

The CNAM does not intend to stop there. According to information from our colleagues, a new inspection campaign will be launched in January. The previous operation of this type had saved 160 million euros.