“Blaming the sick with social deficits is neither bold nor courageous.”

I n an aging society, healthcare costs inevitably weigh on public deficits. The choice is difficult given the chronic deterioration of health insurance accounts. But should all efforts be placed on the sick? During the presentation of his budgetary guidelines on July 15, Prime Minister François Bayrou nevertheless made this choice by setting a course: an austerity cure of 5 billion euros on healthcare spending .

The measures announced, repeated at the beginning of August by the Minister of Health, have a feeling of déjà vu, as they bear the hallmarks of hackneyed policies. Thus, during his speech, the Prime Minister relied on classic rhetoric: "empowering patients." The French are seen as "consumers" who are too fond of antibiotics or sick leave, unaware of their costs. We even find the image of medical tourism with the "unreasonable multiplication" of consultations and tests to confirm a diagnosis. The increase in the annual deductible on reimbursements represents a warning to all these irresponsible consumers.

For decades, this same rhetoric has guided all health insurance reforms. In the meantime, access to healthcare has deteriorated considerably. Today, patients—if they ever were—are not "tourists" compiling treatment plans and seeking yet another scan. Getting an appointment with a general practitioner within a reasonable timeframe has become a real ordeal. How can we have this disconnected view of the world of healthcare when the French are experiencing the full force of medical desertification?

Similarly, when it comes to hospitals, the Prime Minister's demand for "efficiency" is extremely harsh for those who keep them going. To ensure this, he is rediscovering the need to develop outpatient care, even though institutions have been moving in this direction at a rapid pace for years. With the disintegration of all links in the healthcare chain, hospitals have become the receptacle for all crises. How can we still talk about efficiency when our caregivers are deeply unhappy?

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