End of life: Government promises extra 1.1 billion over ten years for palliative care

A new announcement on the highly sensitive and anticipated topic of end of life: the government is committing €1.1 billion to palliative care over ten years. In 2034, the budget allocated to this supportive care as part of the end-of-life strategy will reach 2.7 billion dollars, Health Minister Catherine Vautrin said this Saturday in an interview with Le Monde newspaper.

“In 2034, we will spend 2.7 billion euros on maintenance therapy. This is 1.1 billion more than today. This is a decisive effort towards which the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister are committed,” the Minister confirmed, detailing the executive branch’s strategy in the field of palliative care, an analogue of the opening of the right to “assisted death”, included at the end of the Life Law that will be presented to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday.

“Further in Pain Treatment”

“We need to go further in pain management in general and for all populations, including children,” says Ms. Vautrin. “Before the adoption of assisted dying, we will already increase the offer of palliative care, because our strategy is to give a strong impetus within 10 years, and this in the next three years,” the minister promises.

Before the detailed announcement of the palliative care strategy for 2024-2034, renamed “Support”, the Minister of Health Catherine Vautrin several times mentioned important upcoming measures: the creation of 21 palliative care units in departments that do not have them, “support houses”, to complete the system between hospital and home, or even structure a university palliative care course.

“Over ten years, the number of patients requiring palliative care will increase by 16%. We will increase loans by 66%. The (social security) funds currently allocated for palliative care amount to 1.6 billion euros. We expect that in ten years their number will increase by 1.1 billion,” explained Catherine Vautrin.

Contested End of Service Bill

On March 18, the “bill on support for the sick and people at the end of life” was sent to the State Council. It included, in particular, five conditions for access to “assisted death”: “to be at least 18 years old”, “to have French citizenship or to reside stable and regularly in France”, “to be able to freely demonstrate one’s will”. and in an informed manner”, “suffer from a serious and incurable disease that threatens life prognosis in the short or medium term” and “experience persistent or intolerable physical or psychological suffering associated with this condition”.

A congress of citizens has already met to discuss such a project at the request of Emmanuel Macron. But if the conclusion was issued in the spring of 2023, it remained non-binding for the government.

The project and the timing of its implementation are far from unanimity, both among religious authorities and among the opposition. Some doctors also decry the lack of palliative care resources and the generally alarming state of the public hospital.