Until then, the liberal nurses said nothing. Barely unionized – “We are a little less than 10% out of 128,000″, counts Christine, the president of the association which brings them together in Antibes and its region (Udil 06) -, head in the handlebars, always at the wheel of their car or at the bedside of a patient. Then, in December, yet another 49.3 passed the 2023 Social Security financing bill by the National Assembly. With the Cash investigation report broadcast on December 8 – “who makes us look like fraudsters” -, It’s the drop of water that makes the vase overflow.
Why are you angry today?
We work a lot of hours, we provide inexpensive care, on weekends, in the evening… and we are taxed at around 50%. We are subject to an obligation of care: if we want to go on vacation, we have to find a replacement. You can’t abandon a patient. Ditto if you get pregnant, if you get hurt… but we love our job, which has a very human side. That, the state knows and takes advantage of.
Except that there was inflation, that we lost 25% of our purchasing power and that it is starting to be difficult for us. There are more and more self-employed nurses suffering from burnout, we all have major skeletal-muscular disorders, we take out private provident insurance which is quite expensive and we are now asked to work until the age of 67 to have our full pension. It is not possible. At the moment, I have 50 passages a day. I get in and out of my car 50 times. And, despite that, we are not recognized as a difficult job.
What does the new law require of you?
We no longer have room for error. A liberal nurse is paid 60% by Social Security and 40% by mutual insurance companies. To receive this sum, one must respect a nomenclature. Free rates cannot be applied. Social Security has a right to inspect the invoices, which is normal. By controlling, she can refuse to pay for an act. But, now, we can no longer justify ourselves. The social security is right, and it can give us a fine as a bonus.
The law also made the nomenclature more complex. Sometimes we don’t even know how to rate care. And you have to mark everything to get a refund. It goes so far as to say on which side we made the injection, downright.
When in doubt, call Social Security. But even they don’t always know. It’s a blur and we find ourselves with a sword of Damocles above the head. Especially since they have up to two years to hold us accountable. But we are so fair financially, we have no more cash… if it falls on me, I won’t even be able to pay.
What are you asking?
We would like the Government to review our nomenclature and our prices. Our trips cost 2.50 euros gross. That is 1.25 euros net. It hasn’t been increased for 12 years, when we pay for our gas like everyone else. And how do we explain that home visits by physiotherapists, who have no obligation to provide care, have recently evolved?
Your treatments are not reimbursed enough?
An injection, for example, is 4.50 euros gross. With this sum, we have to buy the needle, the syringe, the dressing and we remove about 50% of the charges. You have to inject them to live. A small bandage is 6.30 euros gross. We arrive, we put down our things, we wash our hands… the 6.30 euros are gone. But there is still care to be taken. Especially since, sometimes, we go to the patient for an injection, but he is not necessarily well. So we talk, we stay… and that is not taken into account.
Not to mention that the state has given pharmacists the possibility of making vaccines and dressings, when they are supposed to sell drugs. There are shifts in tasks that cause us to lose patients and we can no longer get by financially.
The days are long.
A liberal nurse starts between 5:30 a.m. and 6 a.m. and ends around 7:30 p.m.-8 p.m. Not to mention any night shifts. Inevitably, at the end of the day, we can’t take it anymore. We’re stressed, we’re in pain everywhere… and, since we’re alone, we tell ourselves that we’re mismanaging our money. Before, I did not look at my accounts, I knew that everything passed. Now I look and tell myself that I have to invoice quickly.
What is Udil 06?
Udil 06 is an association that has brought together self-employed nurses from Antibes-Juan-les-Pins, Biot, Valbonne, Cannes, Villeneuve-Loubet and Golfe-Juan-Vallauris since 1995. “We have grown to 150 members during the Covid and we are 110 to date”, explains Christine, the president.
The members meet every two months to train, discuss, discuss any problems and share support. When a patient contacts Udil 06, the association looks for an available nurse and promises treatment within 40 minutes.
“A liberal nurse is often alone in her car. Being part of an association is good, allows support. Because we can find ourselves alone in the face of sometimes complex care”continues Christine.
In recent weeks, a new collective has emerged: angry IDEL, supplemented by nurses from other cities.
“We are currently 10,000, including 130 in the Alpes-Maritimes“, explains Alexandra, who is one of them.
And continues: “this group was created because we are all alone, each on our side, not well and angry. We should no longer be ashamed of having trouble making ends meet, because it’s not not our fault. We’re working.”
To contact Udil 06: udil06.fr.
To contact IDEL on Facebook
The law of five 49.3
It took five 49.3s for the government of Elisabeth Borne to have the Social Security financing bill accepted. Which entered into force on December 23, 2022.
This bill focuses in particular on prevention, access to care, the fight against tax evasion (which Christine talks about in the interview), as well as the extension of the vaccination skills of nurses, pharmacists and wise men. -women. Ditto for the signing of death certificates, which nurses in medical deserts will be able to claim. For that, it is expected that they will benefit from a package paid for by the regional intervention fund… which has not yet been defined.