'My door is open to you': 3,500 doctors vow to 'disobey' if AME is abolished

Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credit: JOE RAEDLE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP 17:48 p.m., November 11, 2023

Some 3,500 salaried and private doctors, opposed to the abolition of state medical aid (AME) for undocumented immigrants, pledged to "disobey" and "continue to treat these patients free of charge" if the system were to disappear, in an appeal sent to AFP on Saturday. "I, a doctor, declare that I will continue to treat undocumented patients free of charge according to their needs, in accordance with the Hippocratic Oath I have taken," said the "declaration of disobedience" signed by 3,500 medical professionals.

"It's a very strong statement"

This text was initiated by two psychiatrists who are heads of department at the Henri Mondor Hospital in Créteil and the CHI in Créteil, Prof. Antoine Pelissolo and Prof. Jean-Marc Baleyte. "I will remain indifferent to their social or financial conditions, as well as their language and nationality," the signatories promise. "Ethics prescribe the right care for each person who consults me. Wisdom denounces ethical fault and, by the way, epidemiological error," they continue. Before concluding: "Patients from here and elsewhere, my door is open to you. And will remain so."

The AME covers 100% of the health costs of foreigners who have been on French soil for at least three months. Its detractors accuse it of generating a "breath of fresh air" for illegal immigration and of costing "too much", currently 1.2 billion euros per year for 400,000 beneficiaries (3,000 euros per year per beneficiary). During consideration of the immigration bill this week, the Senate passed an amendment that removes it and turns it into "emergency medical aid." The government did not oppose it, but Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin has since indicated that he does not "want" the text to remain as it is.

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"A lot of private doctors have signed, general practitioners or specialists. If they receive an uncovered patient, they will not be paid. It's a very strong stance," Pelissolo said. "In hospitals, it's disobedience. I can not report a consultation. In the case of hospitalization, it will be at the hospital's expense. It's my decision even if it's against the usual rules of the hospital," he said. Other signatories include emergency physician Patrick Pelloux, Julie Chastang, vice-president of the College of General Medicine, and pediatric nephropathist Rémi Salomon.

3,000 caregivers - including doctors, but also paramedical professionals - had already signed an op-ed in Le Monde last week, calling for the preservation of this "public health" system.