Macron-Le Pen Health Program: what are the differences?

After 2017, 2022. Next Sunday April 24, the candidates Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen will oppose each other in the second round of the presidential election. Their visions of France differ on many points, but what about health? What do they offer after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic? How to treat the public hospital which is increasingly short of nursing staff? What priorities? Decryption.

What are the health measures proposed by Emmanuel Macron?

Emmanuel Macron’s health project, accessible on his campaign site With youpropose :

• A complete and free health check-up at 25, 45 and 60 years old.
• Personalized and connected support for patients with chronic illnesses (remote blood sugar monitoring, etc.)
• Detection and prevention plans relating to the mental health, infertility, sickle cell disease
• Early detection of “development gaps” for children: hyperactivity, dyslexia, obesity
• Recruitment plan for nurses and nursing assistants
• Reduced administrative burden for caregivers (proposal that can also be found in Marine Le Pen’s health project)
• Put physicians back at the center of hospital governance (proposal that can also be found in Marine Le Pen’s health project)
• Give more responsibilities to paramedics (proposal that can also be found in Marine Le Pen’s health project)
• Relocate drug production to France.
• Continue to develop 20 biomedicines and biotechnologies (especially against cancer), new technologies such as exoskeletons.
• Fight against medical deserts : development of teleconsultation (a proposal that can also be found in Marine Le Pen’s health project), occasional permanence in the less endowed territories, accompany the physicians (assistants, possibility for pharmacists and nurses to make more prescriptions and acts of prevention); develop the “hospital outside the walls” (e.g. doctors working in town but hospital employees), decongestion of emergencies by a broader participation in guards, unique number for a medical appointment within 48 hours if necessary.
• For caregivers: two weeks of “respite” per year during which they may be replaced by home helpers, or their relatives may be placed in a specialized institution; My Premium Adapt’ covering, depending on resources, up to 70% of the costs of adaptation work (bathroom, stairs, etc.); more presence of home helpers with the elderly by establishing 2 hours of conviviality per week.

► On his site, Emmanuel Macron draws up the health report of his five-year term by highlighting in particular: the implementation of “100% Health” for glasses, hearing aids and dental care; the increase in the number of nursing homes; the abolition of the Numerus Clausus; the upgrading of caregivers; free contraception for women under 25…

What are the health measures proposed by Marine Le Pen?

Marine Le Pen’s health project, accessible on her campaign site M Francepropose :

• Put hospitals under the “supervision” of the prefects of regions through the Regional Directorates of Health and Social Affairs
• Abolition of Regional Health Agencies. Their creations in 2009 through the Bachelot law has “worsened the situation of hospitals. Doctors, in particular department heads, were excluded from the governance of hospitals and healthcare services, to the benefit of ARS and hospital directors” believes the candidate.
• Hospitals will be headed by a hospital director for the administrative aspects and a doctor for medical matters.
• Opening of at least 10,000 additional places in Nursing Training Institutes (IFSI) and nursing assistant training centers to fill vacant positions.
• Raising wages caregivers working in the hospital: 2 billion euros over 5 years will allow this upgrading. the nurses’ salary will be increased by 10% to reach the European average. This revaluation will also concern hospital staff not concerned by the Ségur de la santé.
• Fix a 10% cap on administrative positions in hospitalswhich will create room for maneuver to recruit more nursing staff. “The hospital suffers from significant bureaucratization which consumes a significant part of its resources” explains Marine Le Pen.
• establish a moratorium on the removal of beds at the public hospital: “100,000 beds have been closed in the past 20 years: this corresponds to a reduction of 25%.”
• Strengthen emergency services personnel : organize a partnership between the emergency services and liberal medical practices towards which could be redirected the patients coming from the city medicine and not from the emergencies. Create a separate channel to take care of the oldest people for “limit the wait in the emergency room”.
• Redefine the mode of financing of the public hospital by returning to a budget in the form of global endowment. The candidate denounces the establishment of the activity-based pricing from 2004 to 2021 “based on performance, competitiveness and profitability”.
• Reduce the number of medical deserts : establishment of a remuneration of the consultation according to the place of installation of the doctor and improving infrastructure and public services to improve the attractiveness of the areas concerned.
• Development of telemedicine.
• Increase in the number of houses and health centers.
• “Drastic” reduction in the use of doctors who obtained their diploma outside the European Union.
• Refitting of systematic school medical visits.
• Increase in medical staff in EHPADs : each establishment will have a coordinating physician and a nurse present 24 hours a day.
• The duration of caregiver leave will be increased to 12 months for the entire career (against 3 currently); his compensation will be indexed to the income of the caregiver, with 100% coverage of wage losses at the level of the minimum wage, 80% up to the median wage and then 50% beyond (capped at €3,000 net). This aid will be deconjugalized, like the disabled adult allowance (AAH).
• A a monthly allowance of €300 will be created for anyone who chooses to live in the home of a dependent relative or to welcome him into her home to devote himself to accompanying him.
• Transformation of State Medical Aid so that it only takes care of urgent care for adults.
• Creation of a ministry dedicated to the fight against fraud in social benefits with checks to verify whether the people who receive benefits are still alive, in particular pensioners residing abroad (visit to the consulate each year).
• Replace the current Carte Vitale model by a model containing biometric data in order to “secure the issue and use” of these Vitale cards.

Sources:

– M La Santé, Health Project by Marine Le Pen, 2022.

– With You, Emmanuel Macron’s Health Project, 2022