Hospitals call for extension to cope with inflation

Inflation puts hospital finances under pressure. To the point that as the presentation of the budget for 2023 approaches, the subject is at the heart of the technical discussions which are taking place between the State and the representatives of the health establishments. The latter are demanding a budget extension this year and a marked increase in their means next year.

Already under pressure, given the Covid-19 epidemic and the medical staff shortages , hospitals are worried about their bills for energy, catering and medical products. “There are rates of change in the price of work of around 15 to 20% compared to what was initially planned”, also notes Cécile Chevance, in charge of finance at the French Hospital Federation (FHF) which represents public hospitals. “We expect price changes on other services such as cleaning services, waste disposal, etc. “, continues the specialist.

Additional cost of 1 billion for the public

Already in July, the federation estimated that inflation represented in 2022 an additional cost of approximately 750 million euros for public hospitals and 1 billion for all public establishments. Hence the need, according to the FHF, for a budget extension this year.

“The ministry is obviously aware of the difficulties linked to inflation and is working with the federations to identify the impact on health establishments,” said the office of the Minister of Health and Prevention, François Braun. .

The cry of alarm does not emanate only from the public sector. “We have electricity contracts whose costs increase by 50% to 100%. For foodstuffs, we have an increase of around 16%”, warns Marie-Sophie Desaulle, the president of the Federation of non-profit private hospital and personal assistance establishments (Fehap).

Call to departments

“We really need an intervention from the State and the departments to help us get through this. The departments finance establishments dedicated to people with disabilities and nursing homes. However, just for nursing homes, Fehap estimates the needs to compensate for inflation between 600 and 650 million euros.

For its part, the Federation of Private Hospitalization (FHP) was already demanding at the end of July an increase in prices hospital procedures to “absorb” the effects of inflation.

Pressure to raise wages

The private sector is also under pressure to increase the salaries of its healthcare workers, after the government enacted a revaluation of the index point of civil servants (+3.5%) from July to help them cope with galloping inflation. Here too, public and private establishments firmly expect compensation from this measure.

In July, the Federation of Public Hospitals pointed out that the expenses incurred, under this financial boost to the agents, amounted to 1 billion euros over six months. The bill will logically be doubled next year.

Towards a revision of Ondam

These are all elements that suggest an upward revision for this year of the target for the evolution of expenditure (Ondam) and an even more marked evolution next year.

In July, the FHF estimated that the Ondam for health establishments should at least increase by 4 to 5% in 2023 to compensate for the evolution of costs (revision of the index point, inflation and additional costs linked to Covid). The trajectory for increasing establishments’ resources had been established at +2.7% in 2021 (without taking into account the effects of the “Ségur de la santé” and measures specific to the health crisis) and at +2.4% during previous years, recalled the federation.