After the unsuccessful examination of the State budget, the deputies begin this Monday, October 28 from 4 p.m. that of the Social Security budget, with the same risks of incompletion, or even rejection. The Social Affairs Committee in fact symbolically rejected the government’s text last week unanimously. Several hot spots are particularly the subject of debate.
Exemptions from employer contributions versus waiting days
First, the exemptions from employer contributions, which the government wants to revise to recover 4 billion euros in the process. If the left voted for, the Macronists, the right and the far right joined forces against this measure decried by the employers. Disavowed by its own camp, the executive says it is ready to move on this point but “we need pledges, we need counter-proposals”, declared Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin on Sunday.
One of Bercy’s proposals consists of going from one to three waiting days and paying less for civil servants’ sick leave, to recover a little over a billion euros. This proposal was received rather favorably by the RN on Monday, “on condition”, said its president Jordan Bardella, that the savings made finance “measures in favor of purchasing power”, such as unpaid overtime for police officers and prison officers.
A “scandalous” measure, thundered the Insoumis deputy Manuel Bompard, recalling that in the private sector, “in approximately 75% of cases, it is the companies which take charge” of the first days of deficiency.
In the presidential camp, unsurprisingly, “it’s a good lead”, judged Frédéric Valletoux, Horizons deputy and former Minister of Health, who sees it as a way to “regulate” the current “explosion of absenteeism” .
Pension freeze
The other expected battle concerns retirements. On the one hand, the highly contested freeze of pensions, the revaluation of which would be postponed from January 1 to July 1. A blow also costed at 4 billion, deleted almost unanimously in committee and promised the same fate in the hemicycle: all the left, right, macronist and independent deputies of Liot have in fact signed deletion amendments of this article. And the National Rally makes it “a red line”. Which leaves little hope for those who propose a freeze limited to pensions above 1,200, 1,600 or 2,000 euros per month.
For Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin, it is up to “the parliamentary debate to set the threshold, for example 1,200 euros, which covers more than 30% of retirees, below which retirees could have compensation for this gap” . “But in fact, for technical reasons, all pensions will be revalued on July 1 instead of January 1,” he maintained.
On the other hand, the left will put the repeal of the pension reform back on the table via various amendments, even if the return to 62 has a strong chance of coming up against the ax of financial admissibility.
Increase in user fees
For 1.1 billion planned savings, the government also plans to increase the user fee for consultations with doctors (general practitioners and specialists) and midwives. That is, the part of health expenses that remain payable once Health Insurance has reimbursed its share, and that mutual insurance, if you have one, pays in part. In other words, a reduction in the amount reimbursed by Social Security, which could go from 70% reimbursed today to 60%. The Minister of Health and Access to Care, Geneviève Darrieussecq, declared in the Senate on October 24 “to work to ensure that this reduction is as small as possible”.
But the deputies who oppose it fear an increase in the costs of mutual and supplementary health insurance, since they would cover a greater amount. The measure is debated even within the parties of the presidential coalition. Horizons MP Frédéric Valletoux declared this Monday morning on TF1 that he wanted “that we do not unravel our universal social protection system”, adding on health which would not be acceptable.”
In the Senate, communist senator Céline Brulin recalled a few days ago that this increase would come “after the doubling of medical deductibles, and the increase in the co-payment for dental care”, adding that complementary insurance companies have already increased their prices, “more what reason.”
Sugar tax
Another sticking point concerns a potential tax on sugar. The Minister of Health was in favor of it, while her colleague from Agriculture, Annie Genevard, seems rather opposed to it. “We must not add burdens to our businesses,” she declared on Saturday in an interview with the Agra press agency. On franceinfo this Monday morning, Yannick Neuder, member of the Republicans of Isère, general rapporteur of the social security budget, for his part estimated that “everything is a question of dosage”, explaining that “incentive levels” have been proposed. Various left-wing senator Xavier Iacovelli judged on Friday October 25 on Public Senate that “forcing manufacturers to reduce the sugar level in food products” would make it possible to drastically reduce health insurance expenses, because of “all the sugar-induced diseases.
The National Assembly’s vote on this Social Security financing bill for 2025 is scheduled for November 5.