This reform proposal was voted on Tuesday evening in the upper house by 200 votes for and 136 against. The National Assembly will in turn examine the text from December 11.
On Tuesday, November 7, the Senate adopted the abolition of state medical aid (AME), reserved for undocumented immigrants, transformed into “emergency medical aid” during the examination of the immigration bill, a reform introduced by the senatorial right to which the government did not oppose.
The Minister for Health Professions, Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, justified the government’s position by the fact that this reform “has nothing to do” in the immigration bill, paving the way for a cancellation of the measure by the National Assembly, which will in turn examine the text from December 11.
200 votes for and 136 against
“Mixing the debates on the AME and immigration control is nonsense”, declared Agnès Firmin Le Bodo in the Senate, controlled mainly by the right, ensuring that “the government is very attached to the AME”A “public health device”. Despite everything, the government relied on “wisdom” senators on this reform proposal. Demanded for a long time by the right, it was voted for by 200 votes in favor and 136 against.
Emergency medical aid, if it came into force, would be “refocused” on support “serious illnesses and acute pain”, as well as prophylaxis, according to the article adopted, reducing the basket of care currently granted to some 400,000 beneficiaries. The measure must also allow for care related to pregnancy, vaccinations and preventive medicine examinations.
If emergency medical aid was not rejected in the National Assembly, it would lead to “real risks for our healthcare system”, explained Agnès Firmin Le Bodo. On the other hand, the government “is not at all closed on the AME and is ready for other avenues of evolution to be explored“, she declared. In the meantime, the vote in the Senate is “a profound error” And “even a mistake”lamented the Minister of Health Aurélien Rousseau in the show Daily.