Social Security financing, public hospital crisis, end-of-life law… These burning issues awaiting Geneviève Darrieussecq at the Ministry of Health

Geneviève Darrieussecq was appointed on Saturday to the Ministry of Health within the Barnier government.

Published on 09/21/2024 8:04 p.m.

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Ministry of Health, February 18, 2020. (LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP)

Michel Barnier presented his government on Saturday, September 21. Geneviève Darrieussecq has been appointed Minister of Health (and Access to Healthcare) to replace the duo Catherine Vautrin-Frédéric Valletoux. She becomes the 6th Minister of Health since the start of this five-year term a little over two years ago and many urgent projects are already waiting on her desk.

Social Security Financing

First, the drafting of the Social Security financing bill, which defines the health and hospital budget for next year. The text must go to Parliament very quickly to be voted on before the end of the year.

Second project for this allergist: the hospital. Emmanuel Macron had promised to relieve the pressure on emergency services by the end of the year. A promise that seems untenable given the story of the tense summer spent by emergency doctors and patients. Two out of three emergency services closed at least one medical line this summer, according to Samu-Urgences de France. In addition, the deficit of the public hospital will approach “two billion euros” this year, warned Rémi Salomon, the president of the Conference of Hospital Medical Commissions, in mid-September. “We have never reached this level,” he said.

Medical deserts and drug shortages

The key, many caregivers say, would be to reopen hospital beds that have been closed over the years. But doctors, nurses and nursing assistants still need to be found. There are not enough candidates, particularly due to a lack of satisfactory working conditions, they say.

Other hot topics: medical deserts and drug shortages. To resolve the issue of medical deserts, the New Popular Front had proposed regulating the installation of doctors to combat these medical deserts. In short, requiring them to go where there is a shortage of doctors. A red rag in the profession. The manner of forcing them was not specified in their program. The left-wing parties had brought an amendment to the Assembly last June to make the installation of a newcomer in areas over-supplied with doctors conditional on retirement, the amendment had been rejected.

End of Life Act

Should we also expect the return of the law on the end of life? Macronie is pushing for the new government to put back on the agenda this text which established an assisted death for condemned patients. A bill which was thrown in the trash because of the dissolution of the Assembly in June. Will Geneviève Darrieussecq want to relaunch the debate? As a member of parliament, she participated in the parliamentary work last spring. But during her interventions, she seemed very cautious about assisted death, explaining that we had to be humble in the face of this major societal issue which raised concerns in her “more questions than answers.”