As part of a broad plan to fight against social fraud, which would cost the French State between 6 and 8 billion euros per year, the Minister Delegate in charge of Public Accounts proposed to merge the national identity card and vital card.
The effectiveness of such a measure may initially be questionned, in particular when the reports produced by the IGAS (General Inspectorate of Social Affairs) and the IGF (General Inspectorate of Finance) point that more than two thirds of the fraud originates from the healthcare providers themselves (doctors overcharging for acts, pharmacists declaring false antigen tests, etc.). But beyond these political considerations, it is worth considering the risks to which the users of this new system would be exposed, as well as the benefits it could bring.
The entire op-ed written by Alan Walter for Le Monde du Droit can be found here.