It is difficult to understand Gérald Darmanin’s position on the subject of state medical aid (AME). The Minister of the Interior said he was “personally” in favor of a reform of the system, before the start of examination of the text, but finally hoped at the end of the week “that the reform of the AME would not be not in the final adopted text” after passing the National Assembly in December. The Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, is clearly unfavorable to the measure which provokes numerous reactions within the profession.
3,500 doctors commit to “disobey”
On Saturday, November 11, some 3,500 employed and self-employed doctors publicly opposed the abolition of the AME intended for undocumented immigrants. They undertake to “disobey” and “continue to treat these patients for free” if the system were to disappear, in an appeal sent to AFP on Saturday. “I, a physician, declare that I will continue to provide free treatment to undocumented patients according to their needs, in accordance with the Hippocratic Oath that I have taken,” this declaration reads. “I will remain indifferent to their social or financial conditions, as well as their language and their nationality,” promise the signatories.
Before them, 3,000 caregivers – including doctors, but also paramedical professions – had already signed a forum in the world, calling for the preservation of this “public health” system. The Federation of Public Hospitals had already estimated on Wednesday that this suppression was “a humanitarian, health and financial heresy”. Furthermore, two practitioners filed complaints on Friday before the Order of Physicians for violation of the Public Health Code against two LR senators, also doctors by profession, who voted to abolish the AME.
The Minister of Health disagrees with the Senate proposal
The government was called upon to react. State medical aid, which the Senate wants to abolish, is “a public health system” and “we will never switch to an emergency medical aid type system”, assured Sunday the Minister of Health Aurélien Rousseau on Franceinfo.
“I understand them, the government will fight so that they do not have to exercise civil disobedience,” promised the Minister of Health. “It must remain a public health system and the notion of emergency is not the right way to approach this subject.” “The government is totally aligned,” assured Aurélien Rousseau. The measure did not appear in the government’s initial version and was introduced by an amendment tabled by LR senators.
The AME covers 100% of the health costs of foreigners present on French soil for at least three months. Its detractors accuse it of generating a “draft” for illegal immigration and of costing “too expensive”, currently 1.2 billion euros per year for 400,000 beneficiaries (3,000 euros per year per beneficiary), according to a report from the National Assembly, less than 0.5% of the social security budget. More than eight out of ten people who are eligible for AME do not use this healthcare system reserved for undocumented immigrants, according to a report published Wednesday by the NGO Médecins du monde.
The Senate adopted its deletion and replaced it with emergency medical aid, with a reduced basket of care and refocused on the management of urgent care, serious illnesses, acute pain, care related to pregnancy or even vaccinations. The National Assembly will in turn examine the text from December 11.