Scalpel on practice. In the midst of a shortage of access to care, the government wants to cap the aesthetic activity of doctors, in the hope of recovering some therapeutic time for patients. Thus, the executive is preparing to publish a decree which limits the aesthetic activity of doctors who practice this activity to 30% of their working time, the remainder having to be devoted to their original specialty.
According to this draft decree, doctors wishing to embark on this highly remunerative activity, and not reimbursed by Health Insurance, must first have practiced fully for five years in their original specialty. The text also provides that aspirants to aesthetic medicine will have to validate theoretical and practical training, the content of which will be defined subsequently by decree.
General practitioners, surgeons, dermatologists…
Aesthetic medicine is accused of diverting doctors from traditional therapeutic care, while many French people have difficulty finding a doctor, general practitioner or specialist. According to figures from the UME-SML union, out of a total of 125,000 private doctors, around 2,800 to 5,000 doctors have an aesthetic activity. Among them, 1,500 general practitioners, 500 of whom devote themselves exclusively to this practice.
The rest of the activity would be carried out by plastic surgeons (a little over a thousand in total in France) and by some of the 3,700 dermatologists, 35% would devote more than 10% of their activity to aesthetic medicine, according to figures from the national dermatology-venerology union. The figures are not very precise, because the activity is not codified by Health Insurance, to the extent that it does not reimburse it.
The scolding of those concerned
The representatives of aesthetic doctors, who became aware of the draft decree this week, believe in any case that this attempt to regulate the sector will not facilitate access to care, but will only disrupt the sector. “We are not going to fill the holes in medical deserts, because we are not established in medical deserts,” argues Doctor Françoise Archambault.
Secretary general of the national union of aesthetic medicine (SNME), this trained general practitioner today devotes 100% of her time to aesthetic medicine in Saint-Nazaire (Loire-Atlantique). For her, limiting aesthetic medicine activity to 30% will make this activity unviable for many doctors, particularly given the cost of the technical platform that must be acquired.
“A laser machine costs almost 100,000 euros”, and “we will not be able to repay our loans with the 30 euro consultation” from the general practitioner, indicates the doctor, who charges for example “80 to 100 euros” for facial hair removal.
“Breath of financial oxygen for young people”
“Doctors who work independently will no longer be able to finance their structure”, and private groups will take over “with salaried or temporary doctors”, adds Doctor Catherine Bergeret Galley, president of the national union of plastic, reconstructive and aesthetic surgery. Aesthetic doctors demand that they be allowed to provide care that costs nothing to Social Security, and brings in 20% VAT.
“Aesthetic medicine is a breath of financial oxygen for young people who are setting up their careers,” underlines Doctor Catherine Oliveres-Ghouti, president of the National Council of Dermatology-Venerology, and member of the National Union of Venereology Dermatologists. “The dermatologist consultation costs 31.50 euros” in the Social Security rate, she recalls.
