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Eight former Ministers of Health published an article on Thursday in The World to warn against the risks of reducing or eliminating State Medical Aid (AME). “Weakening the AME means exposing our health system to increased pressure from later and therefore more serious and costly treatment,” warn these personalities from different political parties, mainly from the central bloc.
Among the signatories are Aurélien Rousseau, Roselyne Bachelot, François Braun, Agnès Buzyn, Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, Marisol Touraine, Frédéric Valletoux and Olivier Véran. Several ministers in the Barnier government, first and foremost Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau (LR), have positioned themselves for a transformation of the AME into “emergency medical aid”.
Not a “call for fresh air” for immigration
Former ministers emphasize that AME is essential to prevent serious medical complications, avoiding heavier and more expensive treatments at an advanced stage of the disease. “The AME does not constitute an incentive factor for immigration in our country, which would be at the expense of the French. It is a fantasy contrary to the facts”, insist the co-signatories, ensuring that the system is already limited to “ a precise scope of care.
“Touching state medical aid goes against the very logic of the public health policies that we have put in place,” they add. The AME guarantees foreigners in an irregular situation free medical care under two conditions: illegal residence continues in France for more than three months and resources below a ceiling of 10,166 euros per year (i.e. 847 euros per month) .
The government is considering measures
The AME, which covers basic medical care, hospitalization costs, certain screenings and vaccinations, as well as contraception and abortion, benefited around 466,000 people in 2023. The cost of this aid amounts to 1.2 billion euros in 2024, or only 0.5% of Social Security health spending. According to the former ministers, touching this aid would go “against the very logic of public health policies”.
This forum comes as the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau recently suggested that the government could “take measures”, possibly by regulation, to transform the AME into “emergency medical aid” with much more precise contours. restricted. This project, often put forward by the right, could come into conflict with part of the presidential camp for whom the AME constitutes a red line.
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