The dangerous abolition of State Medical Aid

The AME is being questioned by the National Rally, which came out on top in the first round of the legislative elections on Sunday, June 30, with 33.2% of the vote. The far-right party has promised to abolish it if it comes to power. However, this decision would pose a problem in terms of public health, according to COVARS (Committee for Monitoring and Anticipating Health Risks). The committee believes that if it were to disappear, this health insurance reimbursement system would no longer be able to protect against health risks, endangering individual and collective health.

AME currently benefits around 400,000 people. Its cost is estimated by the RN at between one and two billion euros each year. The latest state budget officially estimates it at 1.2 billion. Far from the figures, COVARS explains that if they are not sufficiently supported, migrants could delay getting treatment while the emergence of diseases is expected to become increasingly strong in the coming years. This is a problem on a personal level, but also for the community because, without upstream support by city doctors, people present on French soil, sick or in an irregular situation, would head to public hospitals that are already in high demand, or even saturated.

In a recent press release, the directors of CHUs (University Hospital Centers), and the deans of medical faculties, recall that they take care of patients of all origins without distinction, but that the future of their mission cannot be assured in the current context of high uncertainty. Implied: we must relaunch and review the hospital and university model to respond to the new challenges that arise! Does AME alone explain the root of the problem? The subject has not finished fueling the debate.