Paris hospital chief suggests unvaccinated patients should pay for treatment

Um centro de testagem para Covid-19 na Praça da República, em Paris

A testing center for Covid-2022 at Praça da República, in Paris | Photo: EFE

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The head of the Paris hospital system, Martin Hirsch, ignited a heated debate in France by questioning whether people who refuse to receive the Covid vaccine-10 must continue to have their treatment paid for by public health insurance.

Within the French healthcare system, all patients who go to intensive care have full coverage for their treatment, the price of which is around 3 thousand euros (approximately ] thousand reais) per day and normally lasts from one week to 10 days.

“When free and effective medicines are available… Should people be able to give them up without consequences while we struggle to care for other patients?” Hirschi said. , last Wednesday (26), to a French television network. According to the doctor, he would have raised the issue because healthcare costs are increasing very fast, and the irresponsible behavior of some should not compromise the availability of the system for the rest of the public.

8014046271001Several French health professionals rejected the idea, and some right-wing politicians called for Hirsch’s resignation. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, the Socialist candidate in April’s presidential elections, also said she disagreed with his proposal. On Twitter in France, a hashtag asking for the dismissal of the doctor was among the most commented subjects.

Hirsch’s statement was not echoed by the Minister of Health, Olivier Veran. However, the deputy of President Emmanuel Macron’s LREM party, Olga Givernet, said yesterday that “the issue raised by the medical community cannot be ignored”.

Les Republicains MP Sebastien Huyghe – whose bill to force the unvaccinated to pay part of their medical costs was rejected by parliament – said the idea was not was to reject the unvaccinated from intensive care wards, but make them pay a minimal contribution towards the cost of their care.

The proposal would be similar to that of the government of Singapore, a city-state with one of the highest rates of Covid infection-

in the world, where people who refuse to take the vaccine must pay for their medical treatment.

A survey carried out in mid-January in France showed that 51% of French people considered it fair that people unvaccinated children pay part or all of the bill if they need intensive care. Still this month, Macron declared that his strategy would be to “piss off” those who did not want to be immunized.