Former French PM claims cartes Vitale will not work in January: it is not true
Elisabeth Borne evokes healthcare funding collapse to convince MPs to not vote for the motion de censure
Discussions of the 2025 budget are likely to be postponed after the resignation of Michel Barnier
Shutterstock / Antonin Albert / RVillalon / Obatala-photography
Former prime minister Elisabeth Borne claimed that cartes Vitale would stop working on January 1, 2025 if prime minister Michel Barnier were to lose the motion de censure drafted by MPs.
Mrs Borne’s claim is based on the fact that the resignation of the prime minister will postpone discussion of the bill for the 2025 budget.
Mr Barnier activated article 49.3 to push through part of the 2025 budget, a move that triggered two motions de censure, one from the left-wing coalition Nouveau Front Populaire (NFP) and the other from the far-right Rassemblement National (RN).
The NFP’s motion was passed with 331 MPs voting in favour, more than the threshold of 288 MPs required to topple Mr Barnier’s government.
Mr Barnier handed his resignation over to President Emmanuel Macron this morning.
Read more: French Prime Minister Michel Barnier resigns after no-confidence vote passes
False claim
However, Mrs Borne’s claim is incorrect.
The absence of a loi de financement de la Sécurité sociale (LFSS) does not cancel the debit of social security contributions or the payment for health services, said Vincent Dussart, a professor of public finances and fiscal law at Université Toulouse-Capitole.
Read more: ‘Medicines to avoid in 2025’ list published by French medical review
“The carte Vitale is not a credit card attached to funds in a bank account. It does not work that way,” he said.
“Health services - reimbursement of healthcare treatments, drugs, compensation for sick leave period and retirement pensions - are rights that will keep being allotted,” said Dr Dussart.
France does not have a ‘shutdown’ equivalent
Dr Dussart found it surprising that a high-profile politician would present such an erroneous claim.
“She knows the French healthcare system does not work that way. At least, I hope she does,” he said.
“Ms Borne’s claim would be the equivalent of an American shutdown but with a social aspect, a sort of social shutdown.”
The French constitution avoids any equivalent to the US situation when Congress does not come to ground on the financing of federal government activities, putting millions of American civil servants in a situation where they work for no pay until a solution is found.
Read more CHART: Which French prime minister has used controversial article 49.3 the most?
France has what is called the continuité du service public which means that public services activities cannot go uninterrupted in the interest of the state. Social security is considered an important part of service public.
Dr Dussart said several analyses can be drawn as to what will happen to the budget bill.
From a legislative standpoint, Mr Barnier’s resignation means it is rejected, he said, but it does not mean the procedure cannot be brought to the senators even without a government to defend it.
President Macron is to speak before the nation tonight at 20:00 on TF1.
