There are first surgeons to the easy scalpel

After the revelation of a vast traffic of drugs, prescribed, purchased and redeemed in France and then resold by fake patients abroad and involving some 20 million euros, there is no doubt that social fraud exceeded the stage of individual craftsmanship to become the fact of crooks in organized gangs. These frauds do certainly not explain to them only the famous "hole" of the social security system, but they contribute, especially if it adds undue work stoppages (Medicare assesses the cost 500 million per year), benefits paid to false families, residents false or fake still insured.

Juicy scams

More seriously, the fraud is also the medical professionals themselves. There are first surgeons to the easy scalpel. More costly to the community, the CNAM discovered in 2006 fraud involving more than 300 clinics and hospitals (or 1 in 5 of the institutions moved to the new mode of pricing) and on at least 50 million euros. In 2005, it was unscrupulous pharmacists who had resold unused drugs to poor countries (the Cyclamed case). Obviously, some 300 billion euros from the budget of the social security (general regime) are less dangerous to Rob that the coffers of banks and it is easier to make a false pay slips or false layoffs than false tickets.

But the benefits fraud should not obscure the contribution, certainly much more important. The underground economy is frightening. The Cesu (employment universal service cheque) developed by Jean-Louis Borloo should reduce labour to the black in the field of services to the person. But there is massive fraud in occupations such as construction, textile with "Chinese trail", or the restoration with false trainees come from Eastern countries. After fifty years during which the system of social solidarity has worked virtually without effective control, the extent of the fraud led the stakeholders to respond. The National Union of caisses of Medicare (Uncam), to which the payment of daily subsistence allowance cost EUR 7.3 billion in 2005, hoped to reduce this figure to at least a quarter this year. The CNAM has implemented at the beginning of 2006 an Executive of the repression of fraud that has updated the drugs trafficking discovered last week.

Crossing of data

The CFTC is to ask that regulations on the fight against fraud, strengthened by the reform of health insurance in 2004, be fully applied. Xavier Bertrand, Minister of health, has announced the creation in the coming days of a national Committee to combat fraud. The Government prepares indeed an order to combat fraud to cover false residents (foreign or French) disease. It would be to switch social rights on the fiscal domicile.

It is in effect, the magnitude of the task, only crosses of data of different origin is likely to detect anomalies. The problem is therefore whether our societies, which were erected as a basic principle of solidarity, are ready to accept the necessary transparency. And most importantly, to move the border between respect for individual freedoms and the fight against social fraud, scourge that is the negation of solidarity.