Several institutions are mobilizing to oppose the abolition of state medical aid (AME).
- State medical aid (AME) is a system allowing foreigners in an irregular situation to benefit from access to care.
- France Assos Santé, SOS Médecins and the National Academy of Medicine oppose its removal.
- As part of the examination of the bill relating to immigration, the senators of the right and the center voted on Wednesday November 8, 2023 an amendment to remove the AME and instead create much more emergency medical aid restrictive.
While the law on immigration is being debated in the National Assembly, several institutions are mobilizing to oppose the abolition of state medical aid (AME).
SOS DOCTORS calls for “the maintenance of state medical aid (AME)”
“Since the creation of SOS DOCTORS in 1966, its doctors have always treated patients according to their needs and without discrimination, 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. They will continue to do so tomorrow,” written like this SOS doctors in a press release. “SOS doctors cannot become agents of a policy of sorting between patients covered by urgent medical aid (AMU) or not. SOS DOCTORS refuses the instrumentalization of medicine within the framework of a migration policy and calls for the maintenance of state medical aid (AME)”, also write the activists.
Dr Jean-Christophe Masseron, president of SOS DOCTORS FRANCE, insists: “We do not intend to select patients based on their situation. Ever. Don’t be counted on for that.”
AME: France Assos Santé and the National Academy of Medicine against its suppression
“Even though all the scientific studies conclude that state medical aid (AME) constitutes neither a call for immigration nor an economic issue; that 3,000 health professionals spoke out to request the maintenance of the AME; that health user associations and humanitarian associations demonstrate that removing the AME would be a danger for Public Health; the Senate persists and signs, against all reason, to remove the AME, at the name of a retrograde conservative ideology”, deplores his side France Assos Santé.
The National Academy of Medicine also estimated in 2021 that restricting access to the AME was not desirable in France, but that it should on the contrary be simplified by unifying social coverage systems, “thus guaranteeing access to care for any person residing on the national territoryL”.
What is State Medical Aid (AME)?
State medical aid (AME) is a system allowing foreigners in an irregular situation to benefit from access to care. It is awarded subject to conditions of residence and resources. To request it, a form must be completed. Once awarded, state medical aid is granted for 1 year and renewal must be requested annually.
The abolition of the AME is a recurring demand from the right, which sees in the system “a migratory call of air”. As part of the examination of the bill relating to immigration, the senators of the right and the center voted on Wednesday November 8, 2023 an amendment to remove the AME and instead create emergency medical aid much more restrictive.
As of September 30, 2022, there were precisely 403,144 illegal foreigners beneficiaries of the AME.
