Is State Medical Assistance an economic issue ?

Interview with Nicolas Vignier, Hospital Doctor and Public Health Researcher.

State Medical Assistance (Aide Médicale d’État or AME[1]Explained at : https://​www​.sante​.fr/​p​r​e​s​e​n​t​a​t​i​o​n​-​s​t​a​t​e​-​m​e​d​i​c​a​l​-​a​s​s​i​s​t​a​n​c​e​-​a​i​d​e​-​m​e​d​i​c​a​l​e​-​d​e​t​a​t​-​or-ame) is frequently questioned and its access is reduced for economic reasons. However, the AME is not as costly as it is thought to be. This assumption disregards that the system responds above all to health concerns and ending it would have significant human and economic impacts. Nicolas Vignier is a Hospital Doctor and Public Health Researcher. In this interview, he draws on his experience working in healthcare units dedicated to people without health insurance (Permanence d’accès aux soins de santé or PASS). This service offers medical and social care in hospitals to people in precarious situations. The aim is to help us understand the issues surrounding the AME.

Further readings
  • Vignier N., Desgrées du Loû A., Panne­tier J, Rava­li­hasy A., Gosselin A., Lert F. et al., 2018. Access to health insu­rance cove­rage among sub-Saharan African migrants living in France : Results of the ANRS-PARCOURS study. PLoS ONE, vol. 13, n° 2. DOI : 10.1371/journal.pone.0192916
  • Vignier N., Dray Spira R., Bouchaud O., Desgrées du Loû A. & Chauvin P., 2018. « Refusal to provide health care to sub-Saha­rian African migrants in France », The Lancet, vol. 3, n°12. DOI : 10.1016/S2468-2667(17)30246–3

About the author

Nicolas Vignier is a Hospital Doctor at Cayen­ne’s Hospital Centre and a Public Health Resear­cher affi­liated with ERES (Equipe de Recherche en Epidé­mio­logie Sociale), a research team in social epidemiology.

Notes

Cite this article

Nicolas Vignier « Is State Medical Assis­tance an economic issue ? », [trad. Victoire Hernandez], in Betty Rouland (Ed.), Issue “State Medical Assis­tance and the making of a fake problem”, De facto [Online], 31 | February 2022, [English] publi­shed online in February 2023. URL : https://www.icmigrations.cnrs.fr/en/2022/07/26/defacto-031–02

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