She answers questions from La Gazette du Var.

Are you noticing more and more financial insecurity among the elderly? Will this get worse with the increase in the co-payment/deductible to €2?

Yes, unfortunately. We already have elderly people telling us they have to choose between certain daily purchases and their medication. With the deductible doubled, the risk is that some will give up essential treatments due to a lack of means. It is worrying.

Yet, the elderly, who also bear the brunt of this guilt-tripping, truly need these medications, and they are going to pay more for them. Is it a double penalty?

Exactly. On one hand, they are told they must take care of themselves and scrupulously follow their treatments, and on the other hand, they are increasingly asked to pay out-of-pocket expenses because supplementary insurance does not cover everything in some cases, whereas we have been used to paying nothing. It is often experienced as an injustice, especially for patients who did not choose to be ill. Nevertheless, our European neighbors pay much more than us per prescription.

Are you afraid that these changes, such as making patients pay out-of-pocket expenses, will create tensions with patients in pharmacies?

We do fear that. Because we, pharmacists, are the last link in the chain, the ones who will once again have to explain decisions that are too sudden for patients. We do not make these decisions, but we will have to announce and apply them. Some patients may express their anger to us, even though we share their concerns.

People feel abandoned by the healthcare system. What kind of situations do you see in your pharmacies?

Very often, patients confide in us that they can no longer get an appointment with their doctor in a timely manner, or that they have to wait several months for a specialist. For some, the pharmacy is the only regular contact point they have left with a healthcare professional. We are becoming a bit of a refuge, but we see their feeling of abandonment growing.

Regarding the out-of-pocket expenses that will become widespread, will collecting these deductibles bring you an extra administrative burden?

Of course. It represents extra management time, explanations to give to patients, and sometimes misunderstandings to defuse. And this time is not spent with patients offering advice or prevention. It is one more burden added to an already heavy daily workload.

The government wants to reduce the discounts you receive from laboratories on generics. Will this have an impact on prices for patients?

Indirectly, yes. If our margins collapse, some pharmacies that are already fragile risk closing down. Yet, when a pharmacy closes, it means patients are left without quick access to their medication. It is above all a problem of access to care and the survival of the profession.

Faced with this situation, what are your demands? Are we talking about the survival of the profession?

Above all, we ask to be able to continue practicing our profession properly: serving patients, supporting them, securing their treatments. For this, we need viable economic conditions, otherwise many pharmacies will disappear, especially in rural areas. It is not just the survival of the profession that is at stake, it is access to healthcare for millions of French people.