Marion Cros: 'If our margins collapse, some already fragile pharmacies risk closing'
At 35, Marion Cros embodies a new generation of pharmacists determined to defend a changing profession, without ever losing sight of the human touch.
At the head of the pharmacie Cros (10 avenue du 15ème Corps), she combines rigor, listening, and commitment in an increasingly tense local and national context.
As vice-treasurer of the CPTS (Communauté Professionnelle Territoriale de Santé), involved in the future local health center, Marion fights daily to ensure that proximity and quality of service remain the norm.
She answers questions from La Gazette du Var.
Are you seeing more and more precariousness among the elderly? Will this worsen with the increase in the deductible/copayment to –2? Marion Cros.
Yes, unfortunately.
We already have elderly people telling us they have to choose between certain daily purchases and their medicine.
With the deductible doubled, the risk is that some will give up on essential treatments due to a lack of means.
It is worrying.
And yet, the elderly, on whom this guilt-tripping also falls, truly need these medicines, and they are going to pay more for them.
Is it a double penalty?
MC.
Exactly.
On one hand, they are told they must treat themselves and scrupulously follow their treatments, and on the other hand, they are increasingly being asked for out-of-pocket costs because insurance doesn't cover everything; in some cases, we have been used to paying nothing.
It is often perceived as an injustice, especially for patients who have no choice but to be sick.
Nevertheless, our European neighbors pay much more per prescription than we do.
Are you afraid that these changes, such as making patients pay out-of-pocket costs, will create tensions with patients in pharmacies?
MC.
We fear so.
Because we pharmacists are the final link in the chain, the ones who will once again have to explain decisions that are too sudden for patients.
We are not the ones making 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 cases do you see in your pharmacies?
MC.
Very often, patients confide in us that they can no longer get an appointment with their doctor on time, or that they have to wait several months for a specialist.
Some have only the pharmacy left as their regular point of contact with a healthcare professional.
We are becoming somewhat of a refuge, but we see their feeling of abandonment growing.
Regarding the out-of-pocket costs that are becoming widespread, will collecting these deductibles bring you an extra administrative burden?
MC.
Of course.
This represents extra management time, explanations to give to patients, and sometimes misunderstandings to diffuse.
And this time is not spent with patients offering advice or prevention.
It is another burden added to an already heavy daily routine.
The government wants to reduce the discounts you receive from laboratories on generics.
Will this have an impact on patients regarding prices? MC.
Indirectly, yes.
If our margins collapse, some already fragile pharmacies risk closing.
Yet, when a pharmacy closes, patients find themselves without quick access to their medicines.
It is above all a problem of access to care and the survival of the profession.
Faced with this situation, what are your demands?
So we are talking about the survival of the profession?
MC.
Above all, we ask to be able to continue practicing our profession properly: to be at the service of patients, to support them, and to secure their treatments.
To achieve 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, but access to care for millions of French people.