Sanitary taxis: Minister Catherine Vautrin considers it "logical" to want to control spending

It is "logical" to seek to control the growth in health transport spending, Health Minister Catherine Vautrin said on Tuesday, as thousands of taxi drivers demonstrated in France on Monday against their new payment system for health transport.

"It is important that our fellow citizens can be transported when they need it," but "medical transport spending has a very significant increase curve" and will represent 6.3 billion in the health budget in 2023, indicated Catherine Vautrin, on the sidelines of the inauguration of the Santexpo hospital trade fair.

"So it makes sense that we can look at how we can work with taxis so that we can both control costs and provide the service as needed," said Catherine Vautrin.

The expected savings from the new pricing system "represent approximately 150 million euros," said Catherine Vautrin, recalling that the aim was to standardize taxi pricing across the country, and also, in particular, "to optimize empty return journeys."

Several thousand taxi drivers demonstrated across France on Monday, in Pau, Amiens, Paris and Bastia, to protest against the new pricing conditions for medical transport and competition from private hire vehicles, which are due to come into effect on 1 October.

The medical transport business currently represents more than 50% of the turnover of the approximately 40,000 taxis approved by the Health Insurance, and can reach 80% of turnover, or even more for some of them, according to the Health Insurance.

Medical transport spending has grown by an average of 4.4% per year since 2016, according to the same source. Taxis account for half of this spending, with the remainder going to ambulances and light medical vehicles.

"There will be further discussions" with the carriers, Ms. Vautrin indicated. "6.3 billion is a significant budget that deserves discussion," she emphasized. According to Health Insurance calculations, medical transport by taxi costs an average of 63 euros, compared to 38 euros for a VSL trip and 115 euros for an ambulance.