Cartes vitale boycott begins

FROM today, GPs across France could refuse to accept patients’ cartes vitale as they harden their stance in their protest over proposed health reforms.

Instead they will hand patients a form, that has to be completed and handed in before the process of reimbursement can begin.

Alternatively, doctors may accept a carte vitale, but will only transmit the information once in a month, instead of several times a week as they do normally.

It is feared this latest move in the doctors’ strike could leave patients facing a wait of up to two months for repayments as social security offices are expected to be overwhelmed by the additional paperwork.

The first major cartes vitale strike since 2001 comes after a survey found that nearly six out of 10 French people (58%) believe the doctors’ strike is “justified”.

The online Ifop poll of 1,005 people for Le Journal du Dimanche found that 20% of respondents believe the dispute to be “entirely justified”, while another 38% say it is “somewhat justified”.

Photo: Shane T McCoy / Wikimedia Commons