A meeting between both factions was set up after the AMMD’s announcement on 30 October that it intended to terminate its agreement with the National Health Fund. The first round of talks will commence on Wednesday afternoon, although the timing is not ideal for the doctors’ representatives, as it clashes with their usual general assembly. Even so, the legal process must be followed, and both parties are required by law to meet within two months of the termination notice.
Earlier this month, the AMMD’s president Chris Roller emphasised the need to terminate the convention in the eyes of the association: “It was not a decision we took lightly. In some ways it was the result of politics. For over two years now, we have been waiting for that which was promised in the coalition agreement.”
The AMMD will enter the talks with a number of demands, including an adaptation of tariffs. In the open letter published after the termination of the convention, the association called for tariff autonomy. Roller said these demands were not chosen at random: “These are the maximum demands we can make as we enter this negotiation phase. We have to start from this position.”
But not everyone is in agreement, as opinions differ among doctors. Practitioners with a private practice say they feel at a disadvantage when compared to doctors in hospitals, and among those who did not agree with the AMMD’s position.
On 1 December, Monique Reiff, president of the MSH representing hospital doctors, warned the AMMD’s demands risk pushing the system towards private medicine and fuelling fears of a two-tier healthcare system. She said it went too far and could undermine the profession’s ethical standing.
With divisions among doctors, the negotiations already risk stalling. Under the law, a new agreement must be reached within 12 months of the convention being terminated. If that does not happen, Health Minister Martine Deprez would be required to step in. Deprez said patients should not worry, stressing they would remain insured and receive the same treatment as before, and that the aim is to keep the patient at the centre of the talks.
Deprez added that the convention primarily focuses on technical aspects, while the most important questions are handled by the social security code.
