There are stubborn symbols. In terms of immigration, the state medical aid (SMA) is one of them. This device divides the political arena and could quickly reveal divisions within the new government.
Newly appointed Minister of the Interior, a heavyweight in the Executive and a conservative figure for the Republicans (LR), Bruno Retailleau declared on TF1, Monday 23 September, that he wanted to address this basket of care for undocumented immigrant foreigners who earn less than 10,000 euros per year, and which benefited, by the end of 2023, some 450,000 people. “I don’t want to (…) France is the most attractive country in Europe for a number of social benefits and access to healthcare”The new tenant of Place Beauvau can benefit a priori in this respect from the good will of Prime Minister Michel Barnier, who advocated in 2021, during his campaign for the LR primaries, the abolition of the AME.
“A public health system”
Members of the government, however, could be embarrassed. The Minister for Ecological Transition, Energy, Climate and Risk Prevention, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, quite resistant to the right of Macronism, reacted the next day on France-Bleu Nord: “We have been clear. A suppression would not be acceptable because state medical aid, beyond [du fait qu’elle vient] Helping foreigners in the territory is a public health system”She opposed it, echoing the discussions that the macro-granddaughter went through during the debates on the “immigration” bill presented by Gérald Darmanin, in the fall of 2023.
Health Minister Geneviève Darrieussecq remained silent on the subject, but in November 2023, together with twenty-five other modern deputies, she signed a text published by the newspaper. the cross and titled “State medical aid, yes to the French health exemption!” This forum was opposed to the abolition of the AME. At the time, the senatorial right – in its majority, Bruno Retailleau was the president of the LR group of senators – had succeeded in introducing the abolition of this health system, before the article was finally removed from the law. However, the government had promised to study reforms and, to this end, an evaluation mission had been entrusted to the former socialist Minister of Health, Claude Evin, and the former prefect and right-wing man Patrick Stefanini.
Their findings, published on December 4, 2023, confirm “health utility” of the AME and warned against “Significant risk of forgoing care” What would replacing it with emergency medical help entail? WHO “It would have the triple impact of a deterioration in the health status of those affected, possible consequences for public health and increased pressure on health facilities”.
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