“Rabbit” tax: why Doctolib is blocking it, while the platform is in favor of the measure ?

The government has put forward the idea of ​​providing a bank imprint to patients who make an appointment with the doctor via Doctolib to take 5 euros from them in the event of a “rabbit”. The idea does not appeal at all to the platform, although it is favorable to the tax itself.

The "rabbit" provides for penalization of patients who do not keep their appointments. Presented among a series of measures this Saturday, April 6, it would amount to 5 euros, indicated Prime Minister Gabriel Attal in an interview with the regional press.

The idea is to charge five euros for the appointment to the patient who does not show up and who does not cancel at least 24 hours in advance. nbsp;The government wishes that from January 1, 2025, on online appointment platforms such as Doctolib, this penalty sanctions the patient while being at hand but also for the benefit of the doctor who will have the mission to report it.

If Doctolib was rather favorable to the implementation of this penalty, the platform on the other hand expressed its opposition to the government's request, which wishes that to apply the measure, patients enter their banking details on the platform.

"Administrative burden"

France Info recalls that the idea would be to ask the patient who reserves a slot on Doctolib, to enter a fingerprint bank at the time of booking, so that 5 euros are taken in the event of a rabbit.

This is where Doctolib stands in the way. "We must not create a new administrative burden for caregivers and hinder the&rsquo ;access to care", commented Stanislas Niox-Château, the co-founder of Doctolib. For him, this would amount to hindering access to care for "20 % of patients [who] are in a situation of electronic dysfunction and 5% [who] do not have a bank card.< /em>