About 5.4 million patients did not have a treating doctor in 2019, despite active research for more than half of them, underlines the director general of Health Insurance, Nicolas Revel, in an interview with the specialized magazine Le Generalist to be published this Friday. He said he was "very attentive" to the situation.
"There have always been, in recent years, about 10% of patients without a treating doctor," he recalls, adding that "in 2019, this was the case for 5.4 million patients". "Among them, a proportion of rather young and healthy patients did not try to find one." However, "more than half of our fellow citizens without an attending physician are actually looking for a dedicated practitioner, often for lack of being able to find one when their general practitioner retires", explains Nicolas Revel.
A trend that could increase
“We are very attentive to this situation. Especially since among the people concerned is a significant number of patients with ALD (long-term disease), over 70 years old or suffering from a chronic pathology, "he underlines. "If we do nothing, this trend will inevitably increase in the coming years," warns the Director General of Health Insurance, calling for a collective organization.
According to a survey by the association UFC-Que Choisir published in November, almost one in two general practitioners (44%) refuses to become the doctor treating new patients. But no question of reviewing this device, essential for better reimbursement, says Nicolas Revel. On the contrary, he considers that it must be "comforted" to "improve prevention" and "the monitoring of chronic pathologies".
Health insurance does not penalize
According to him, physicians must be allowed to increase their patient base, in particular through the deployment of medical assistants. "Since September, just over 500 contracts have been signed or are in the process of being signed (238 signed and 271 in progress)", concerning this profession.
Health Insurance does not intend to apply a “double penalty” to patients who cannot find a treating doctor by penalizing them financially, underlines Nicolas Revel. Each fund "therefore identified the patients in this situation and took measures so that they are not impacted," he said.
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