The envelope was considered insufficient and was lengthened. Wheelchairs will be fully reimbursed “by the end of 2024”, ministers in charge of health and disability assured on Thursday, who say they have received budget support. “Emmanuel Macron’s commitment to fully reimburse the cost of wheelchairs, electric and manual, will be fulfilled by the end of 2024,” confirmed Disability Minister Fadila Khattabi.
Reimbursement for wheelchairs, promised by the head of state at the national conference of disabled people in April 2023, has since been the subject of negotiations between the Department of Social Security (DSS), industrial manufacturers and distributors. According to the ministry, the initial package allocated for this measure was estimated at approximately 300 million euros. However, it was not considered sufficient to provide a full refund for all chairs, manual or electric, standard or special.
No disruption for the user
“We asked the president to extend the original package and he agreed,” Health Minister Catherine Vautrin said in an interview with daily La Croix. The government refused to name the amount of budget support so as not to whet the appetites of industrialists during negotiations. This measure will be covered by health insurance and supplemental health insurance at no additional cost to the user.
Currently, the price of a manual chair can reach up to 10,000 euros, and an electric one – up to 50,000 euros. The project provides a compensation base of 2,600 euros for a manual chair (compared to 600 euros today), and 18,000 euros for an electric chair (compared to 5,200 euros). “These numbers are no longer relevant. Today everything is back on the table,” Ms. Khattabi told La Croix. “The average remaining charge at the moment was 900 euros. For 60,000 people this is more than 5,000 euros. This is not normal,” the minister added.
A second round of negotiations will begin in the coming days, and the government wants associations such as Collectif Handicaps or APF France Handicap to “take a more central role and make proposals,” the ministry said.
A million people need a wheelchair, most of them elderly, and this number will increase as they age.
Source: Le Parisien
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