Some 3,500 salaried and self-employed doctors, opposed to the abolition of state medical aid (AME) for undocumented immigrants, undertake to “disobey” and “continue to treat these patients free of charge if the system were to disappear, in a call sent to AFP on Saturday. “I, a doctor, declare that I will continue to treat undocumented patients free of charge according to their needs, in accordance with the Hippocratic Oath that I have pronounced,” indicates this “declaration of disobedience” signed by 3,500 health professionals.
“It’s a very strong position”
This text was initiated by two psychiatrists who are heads of department at the Henri Mondor hospitals in Créteil and the CHI in Créteil, Professors Antoine Pelissolo and Jean-Marc Baleyte. “I will remain indifferent to their social or financial conditions, as well as their language and their nationality,” promise the signatories. “Ethics prescribes the right care for each person who consults me. Wisdom denounces ethical fault and in passing epidemiological error”, they continue. Before concluding: “patients from here and elsewhere, my door is open to you. And will remain so”.
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). During consideration of the immigration bill this week, the Senate adopted an amendment that removes it and transforms it into “emergency medical aid.” The government did not oppose it, but Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has since indicated that he “does not want” the text to remain as it is.
“Many private doctors have signed, general practitioners or specialists. If they see a patient who is not covered, they will not be paid. This is a very strong position,” explained Professor Pelissolo. “In hospitals, this is indeed disobedience. I can not declare a consultation. In the case of hospitalization, it will be at the expense of the hospital. It is my decision even if it is against the rules usual hospital procedures,” he said. Among the other signatories are emergency physician Patrick Pelloux, Julie Chastang, vice-president of the College of General Medicine and nephro-pediatrician Rémi Salomon.
3,000 caregivers – including doctors, but also paramedical professions – had already signed a column in Le Monde last week, calling for the preservation of this “public health” system.