The news surprised more than one, even in the ranks of the Ministry of the Interior. Tuesday, Gabriel Attal unveiled in the columns of Parisian its plan to fight against social fraud, estimated between 6 and 8 billion euros per year by the Court of Auditors in a report published a few days earlier. Among the measures announced is the merger between the national identity card and the Vitale card. The objective of the Minister Delegate in charge of Public Accounts: to prevent the loan of the famous green card in order to be able to obtain free treatment or medication.
Several media reported that Gérald Darmanin and his teams, whose ministry is responsible for issuing identity cards, had not been made aware of this project. The announcement caused a new commotion within the government, which has recently experienced more than one hiccup in its communication. After several hours of hesitation, Beauvau and Bercy finally published a joint press release at the end of the day on Tuesday with the Ministry of Health to confirm “that a joint inspection mission (General Inspectorate of Administration, General Inspectorate of Finance, General Inspectorate of Social Affairs) will be launched very soon in order to work on the technical and legal implementation of the merger”. “Everything is settled”, confirms an adviser to the Minister of the Interior.
A project far from complete
Still, this governmental cacophony risks leaving traces. Especially since the merger of the two cards is still far from being definitively recorded. Before its deployment, a “prefiguration mission” will have to deliver its conclusions by the end of the year. “It’s a blow of bonneteau. On paper it could be good, but only if it was established immediately. Gabriel Attal announces a mission to find out if it is playable. But in the end, they will announce that it is very complicated and that it would take a lot of time”, predicts Charles Prats, former magistrate of the National Delegation for the fight against fraud and current national secretary of the UDI for the fight against social and tax fraud.
The project indeed seems difficult to set up when already, the delays to obtain an identity card or a passport have increased significantly since the health crisis. It took an average of 11 days in 2021 to obtain an appointment at the town hall, before this figure climbs to 60 days in the spring of 2022. In some departments, it sometimes takes more than three months. To remedy this, Gérald Darmanin announced last January the opening of 500 new counters for collecting requests, as well as aid of 20 million euros for municipalities.
But between meeting current demand and replacing all the Vitale cards and identity cards of the French, there is a world. “The question that must be asked is: what will be the means that will really be deployed? This requires an immediate increase in power. It will take at least 20 years to equip everyone”, estimates the deputy Les Républicains Patrick Hetzel, who has chaired in 2020 a commission of inquiry into the fight against fraud in social benefits, following which several proposals were put on the table. “This report was submitted in November 2020. The government reacts 30 months later. This latency period is worrying”, plagues the elected official.
Belgium ahead
In Belgium, the social information card (SIS) – the equivalent of the Vitale card, was merged into the electronic identity card from 2014. The latter, available since 2002 in the country, is a card with chip whose format is similar to a bank card. Health information is not stored there directly, but is accessible on a secure server when it is entered into a terminal at a doctor’s or hospital. “We did it for reasons of control and accessibility in order to simplify the mechanism and to have a system allowing us to be constantly up to date. Fighting against fraud was not the initial idea”, explains Benoît Collin, general administrator of the National Institute for Disability Health Insurance, the Belgian social security body. Nearly 10 years later, the results are more than positive. “This has facilitated procedures and operations for mutuals, for the health system but also for holders. It’s a better system and there is less fraud than before. Everyone wins”, continues- he. But unlike Belgium, France will have to create a new map anyway if the merger is approved in the coming months.
The results of such a measure are in no way guaranteed. “It is well understood that the government needs to find money to lower the public debt, and reducing the level of social fraud is in itself a good idea – but this is above all the work of companies which do not declare not certain employees or self-employed who do not declare their work. The main part of the shortfall is there. And apart from increasing controls and fines, I do not see how to do it. However, this is not the heart announced measures”, deplores Olivier Bargain, professor of economics at the University of Bordeaux and former member of the Economic Analysis Council.
Very fond of the theme of the fight against social fraud, the parliamentary right welcomed the news with skepticism, she who pushed for the establishment of a biometric card. A solution rejected by Bercy, because considered too expensive. It was however part of the presidential program of Emmanuel Macron during his re-election. This system integrates the fingerprints of each beneficiary, making it possible to ensure that the person receives the care and reimbursements to which they are entitled.
“When we did the costing, we had reached an initial investment of 500 million for general deployment. There are at least two French companies that would have the technology to do it. Then the State should provision 100 million euros for the annual management. When we do the cost-benefit ratio, this would lead to savings of 2 billion euros”, explains Patrick Hetzel. In 2021, the elected representative of Bas-Rhin had tabled a bill to this effect with his colleagues. Adopted in the Senate, it was then rejected by the Assembly’s Social Affairs Committee by the majority.
For Charles Prats the argument of the amount of the operation is not admissible. “This can be done very quickly. There is not even a need to change the Vitale card. Only the cost of taking the fingerprints of the French people is to be taken into account. The National Commission for Computing and of Liberties (CNIL) accepts that there is a centralized base. It is only in France where there is this kind of blockage. It will perhaps be necessary to go through the referendum “.
The independent administrative authority is in fact opposed to the deployment of the biometric Vitale card. She believes that it “would pose difficulties in the event of delegation of the Vitale card (for example its use by a relative) and could therefore have negative consequences for the care of certain people”. It also highlights “the difficulties of deployment among health professionals (who should be equipped with biometric control devices and implement them), the sensitivity of the data in question and the significant risks for people in the event of an attack. computer science”. The biometric card seems definitely ruled out. If the inspection mission gives the green light to the merger of the identity card and the Vitale card, it is a titanic project that the government could tackle in the coming months.