Paris: The newly appointed French Home Minister, Bruno Retailleau would like to put a stop to State Medical Aid for illegal foreign immigrants and instead replace it with a State Emergency Aid.
What is the State Medical Aid?
Started in the year 2000, this medical aid gives access to free medical and hospital care to illegal foreigners. It not only covers illnesses and maternity, but also prostheses, dental and eye care based on tariffs of the French Social Security system. This medical aid is granted under certain conditions, those of residence and resources.
Only those illegal immigrants living in France for a minimum uninterrupted period of three months are entitled to it. According to sources of French news radio, France Info, around 400,000 people in the country benefit from the medical aid system.
The subject of State Medical Aid has been a ticking time bomb for a long time. The right-wing and the far-right parties have always considered it a mechanism that lures foreigners to France.
Mr. Retailleau echoed exactly this rightist thought when he said on national television this week, "We are one of the only European countries that provides the most benefits. I do not want France to stand out, for France to be the most attractive country in Europe for a certain number of social benefits and access to healthcare.” He will definitely be backed by the newly appointed Prime Minister, Michel Barnier who also made it clear on Sunday’s national television that “the abolition of State Medical Aid was not ‘taboo’.”
When the recent Immigration Law was being decided upon earlier this year, Mr Retailleau, who was then the head of the right-wing parties at the French Senate or the French Upper House of the Parliament, had already tried to abolish the State Medical Aid for foreigners who weren’t legal. This change was not brought about then, but the Prime Minister at the time, Elisabeth Borne had promised to reform the State Medical Aid before the summer of 2024.
The promise was then taken up by Gabriel Attal, her successor, but it wasn’t fulfilled. Now in his capacity as Home Minister, as Mr Retailleau brings the issue back on the table, it has led to quite an uproar among the left wing parties and also among those with leftist leanings in President Emmanuel Macron’s party, Renaissance.
Three of the last four former health ministers found this reform unnecessary. "Challenging state medical aid would not only be completely stupid for public health, but also for health insurance finances," reacted François Braun, health minister from 2022 to 2023.
He added that epidemics like Covid do not ask you for your identity card and that refusing to treat chronic illnesses would lead to illnesses that become more complicated, which would ultimately cost much more. Aurélien Rousseau, health minister from July 2023 to December 2023 also criticised this proposed reform saying that the government only wants to bring it up to please the far-right.
A report on State Medical Aid commissioned by the Prime Minister’s office last year says that the aid does not appear to be a factor of attractiveness for immigration candidates. Health reasons for immigration are in fact only mentioned by 9.5% of illegal foreigners as per a 2022 study by the French National Centre for Scientific Research. And the number of actual beneficiaries is much lower than the number of people who could benefit from it.
With his proposed reform, the Home Minister will undoubtedly create a rift in the government and may even weaken the alliance between the Les Republicans party to which he belongs and the “Macronie” or Emmanuel Macron’s entourage.
