The executive promises an “action plan” on old age before the summer

Posted Apr 4, 2023, 7:15 PMUpdated on Apr 4, 2023, 7:22 PM

Pressed by addiction associations and professionals to finally tackle the problem of the aging population head-on, the government promises to complete a reform of the large age, the outline of which will be detailed in the summer.

“Some were simply waiting for a law, we will be more ambitious than that,” said Jean-Christophe Combe, the Minister in charge of Solidarity, Autonomy and People with Disabilities on Tuesday, while many specialists in old age are demanding a specific bill for a long time.

“pragmatic” approach

Defending a “pragmatic approach”, the executive promises an “action plan” which should be unveiled at the end of May or the beginning of June and whose funding should be finalized in the next Security budget social.

On the merits, the Minister stuck to the main principles. Especially since it wants to draw inspiration from the proposals issued by the National Council for Refoundation devoted to “ageing well”.

However, Tuesday precisely marked the day of “restitution” of this exercise of consultation of the citizens, wanted by the President of the Republic, to bring up the ground difficulties and initiatives.

Jean-Christophe Combe has however sketched out a few elements of his strategy. These include “simplifying the life” of those who support the lives of the elderly, identifying isolated people, better preventing the loss of autonomy or even fighting once morest abuse.

One-stop shop

The executive also says it wants to improve access to public services. In particular thanks to the establishment, with the departments, of a “local public autonomy service”. It will be a “one-stop shop” providing “clear answers for people with loss of autonomy”, indicated Jean-Christophe Combe.

This measure will be taken by the government as part of the bill “to build a society of aging well” under discussion in committee at the National Assembly this week. Supported by the majority, this is seen as largely insufficient by many specialists.

Lack of ambition

She “singularly lacks ambition”, castigated Tuesday before the Minister, Luc Broussy, one of the “rapporteurs” of the work of the CNR. A sign of unease, the Renaissance MP, Monique Iborra, decided to give up her place as co-rapporteur of the bill “considering that it did not go far enough”, even if the majority continues to defend a stone brought to the building.

The executive intends in any case to take advantage of this parliamentary debate to promote – in addition to the creation of a one-stop shop – “new measures of transparency and moralization” of the nursing home sector, Jean-Christophe Combe said on Tuesday.

Work on the cost of nursing homes

The action plan expected before the summer must also take into account the work currently being carried out by the Socialist MP Christine Pires-Beaune on how to limit the remainder payable by the elderly for people residing in nursing homes. “What I want to build is an accessible offer, proportionate to people’s resources”, declared the Minister for Autonomy.

The previous five-year term saw the creation of a new branch of Social Security devoted to financing “autonomy”. This must be assigned a fraction of the CSG next year. The question of the public resources put on the table remains, however, at the heart of the concerns of those involved in old age who constantly warn of the importance of the necessary needs in the face of the aging of the population.

Discretion on the means

“Already, there is a public finance trajectory for this fifth branch which will allow us to finance a large number of measures”, declared Minister Jean-Christophe Combe on Tuesday, recalling that the autonomy budget should increase to 42 billion euros in 2026, once morest 32 billion in 2021.

The next Social Security budget might, however, be the occasion for new developments. “I would also like to work with insurance groups, mutual groups, on this issue to see if we can mobilize other types of financing,” he said.