His knee has been hurting for two weeks. Maybe it’s nothing serious, but for this construction worker who specializes in bricklaying, his knee is like a tool. The problem is that Sikou (those named by their first names wished to remain anonymous) has no health insurance coverage. When he arrived in France in 2018, he is undocumented and was unable to renew his State Medical Assistance (AME) beneficiary card, which covers a limited range of services for people in need. Irregular situation.
Therefore, that autumn morning, in the absence of a solution, he went to one of the access and orientation centers of the NGO Médecins du monde in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) to be examined by a doctor. The one who receives him, Marc Pomper, gives him painkillers and anti-inflammatories. When he examines him, he finds that the Malian is presenting “some tension”. “You can come back in three weeks to check.”he proposes.
By including people without health insurance, Marc Pomper has an overview of the situations that could multiply if the AME were abolished and replaced by “emergency medical assistance”, as provided for in the “immigration” law, which has been in effect since Monday, December 20th November 6th, will be examined in the Senate.
Minkoro, a 36-year-old Ivorian, suffers from dilated cardiomyopathy. Since he has been living in France for less than three months, he is not yet entitled to AME. “This is an extreme casebelieves Mr. Pomper. I sent him to the hospital a few days ago thinking they would keep him for a proper evaluation, but they sent him back after a day of heart failure treatment without even doing a coronary angiography. » Lacking the means to purchase the prescribed medication, Minkoro returned to Médecins du Monde in the hope of obtaining them free of charge.
A 2019 report by the General Inspectorate for Social Affairs and the General Inspectorate for Finance recalled a far cry from the idea – hackneyed on the right and far right – that the AME would be used to cover care needs “According to health insurance statistics, those insured with AME consume fewer “comfort medications” than the general population: This is the case, for example, with cold and cough medicine (− 6%), medications for digestive disorders (− 19%) and anti-acne medications (−42%)”.
Very common non-recourse option
At the Médecins du Monde center in Saint-Denis, which around 3,000 people passed through in 2022, people come primarily to “Problems with diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep”lists Isabelle Jouy, volunteer nurse. “A few days ago a woman came because she had a tumor on her back. This morning a gentleman was worried about his mother who had cancer. I also referred eleven people for tuberculosis screening. »
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