The carte vitale will continue to operate in January despite the fall of the Barnier government and the absence of a budget for Social Security for 2025.
Since the overthrow of the Barnier government, the State's ability to ensure the proper functioning of the social security system has been seriously called into question. The rejection of the Social Security Financing Bill (PLFSS) has plunged the financing of social benefits into uncertainty, in a context of threatening deficits.
“If the Social Security budget is censored, this means that on January 1 [2025], your Vitale card will no longer work and pensions will no longer be paid”, warned Elisabeth Borne, now a member of parliament for Calvados, on November 24 on LCI.
According to Capital, contrary to the alarming statements of the former Prime Minister, the Cartes Vitales will remain operational at least until the end of the first quarter of 2025, thanks to the continued collection of social security contributions. But as early as March, the Central Agency for Social Security Organizations (Acoss) could face significant cash flow pressure, due to a lack of borrowing capacity to cover its needs.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000Budget freeze
Since the PLFSS, which sets health insurance expenditure (Ondam) each year as a reference for financing hospitals and other social services, has not been adopted, the government will probably have to repeat the 2024 figures.
This situation risks further increasing the chronic deficits of public hospitals. Without borrowing authorization, health insurance may not guarantee regular payments to institutions, forcing them to reduce certain services or delay investments, to the detriment of the quality of care.
The gradual elimination of certain employer exemptions and the reform of the revaluation of pensions, planned in the PLFSS 2025, cannot be implemented, leading to a deficit in Social Security that could reach 25 billion euros, compared to 16 billion initially planned.
Recourse to the “special law” ?
To avoid paralysis, the government could resort to a “special law” to temporarily renew the 2024 budget, a measure already used in 1979, reports in particular Franceinfo. Another option would be to propose a corrective bill to authorize loans or unblock urgent measures.
However, these transitional solutions would not resolve the structural problems, nor would they integrate certain advances planned in the PLFSS, such as better support for mental health or capping the salaries of temporary workers.
In the long term, freezing adaptation measures, such as the revaluation of pensions or the adjustment of tax thresholds, could increase the tax burden on households. According to Laurent Saint-Martin, Minister of the Budget, approximately 380,000 additional households could become taxable if the tax scales remained unchanged. Furthermore, an uncontrolled revaluation of pensions would worsen the public deficit, increasing the pressure on social finances.