World News: The French Government Targets Healthcare Fraud

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Category: Haute This Issue
Published on Monday, 01 April 2024 12:06
Written by Olivier Longhi

The French Healthcare system, or the Assurance Maladie, is anxious to reduce work stoppage fraud, is launching a campaign to fight against unscrupulous employees who are led to take advantage of loopholes in the system.

If the latter remain intact, why not try to absorb them before making employees feel guilty about keeping their jobs?

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Popular in the 1970s, a decade marked by the first oil crisis of 1973-1974, the expression "waste hunting" has been given yet another lease of life in view of the Medicare government's desire to fight against work stoppage fraud. Incidentally, the expression has resonated many times, and will continue to resonate, in ministries as well as in households for more than fifty years.

But, this time, it is the work stoppages that are in the sights of the Ministry of Finance and Social Security. The objective is simple: to reduce the cost of the shutdowns in question as much as possible to work towards reducing the public deficit.

Set at ten billion euros this year by the Minister of Finance, Bruno Lemaire, the choice is therefore made to fall employees tempted to ask for a stop if by chance they present disorders likely to cause one. The idea, simple and already under consideration, is to increase the number of waiting days from three to seven, some calling it a health deterrent.

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Work that has Become Valuable

However, regardless of the ideas put forward, this or any other, it is clear that the State and the Government have opened a hunt for employees designated as guilty of being ill from time to time. However, what Social Security, a noble and venerable institution whose branches are not all in deficit, seems to forget is that, overall, no one wants to be sick or on leave for the simple reason that work, which has become precious and essential for the vast majority of employees, is still a priority.

Precisely, it would perhaps be interesting to turn the table upside down and ask ourselves about the number of people who go to work every day in pain (excluding long-term or incurable illnesses), preferring to avoid any stoppage because the latter have a cost and an immediate effect on the monthly salary. Of course, some will argue that there are sick leave professionals, just as there are a plethora of practitioners who distribute sick leave.

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Welfare State

But while thinking about ways to make substantial savings is commendable, tracking down workers is an easy fight that should perhaps be replaced by a deeper reflection on the nature and objectives of the welfare state without the welfare state stripping away those benefits who feed it through their current or past work. Taking as a starting postulate that medical care is reimbursed by Social Security, our system effectively confirms the possibility of fraud.

So, to fight against something, it is necessary to fight against the flaws of the system and not to engage in a disproportionate fight against employees who are more concerned with keeping their jobs than wallowing in the most relative and questionable luxury of the work stoppage and its financial consequences.

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Bio: Olivier Longhi has extensive experience in European history. A seasoned journalist with fifteen years of experience, he is currently professor of history and geography in the Toulouse region of France. He has held a variety of publishing positions, including Head of Agency and Chief of Publishing. A journalist, recognized blogger, editor, and editorial project manager, he has trained and managed editorial teams, worked as a journalist for various local radio stations, a press and publishing consultant, and a communications consultant.

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