2023-11-06 17:26:48
His knee has been hurting for two weeks. Maybe it’s nothing serious, but for this construction worker specializing in masonry work, his knee is like a work tool. The problem is that Sikou (the people mentioned by their first name requested anonymity) does not have health coverage. Arriving in France in 2018, he is undocumented and failed to renew his state medical aid (AME) beneficiary card, coverage for a reduced range of care for people in need. irregular situation.
So this autumn morning, for lack of a solution, he went to one of the access to care and orientation centers of the NGO Médecins du monde in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis) in order to be seen by a doctor. The person who receives him, Marc Pomper, gives him painkillers and anti-inflammatories. By examining him, he notes that the Malian presents “a little tension”. “You can come back in three weeks to check”he suggests.
By receiving people without health coverage, Marc Pomper has an overview of the situations which might multiply if the AME was abolished and replaced by “emergency medical aid”, as provided for in the “immigration” law examined since Monday November 6 in the Senate.
Minkoro, a 36-year-old Ivorian, suffers from dilated cardiomyopathy. As 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 because I thought they would keep him for a proper workup, but they sent him back following a day with heart failure treatment without even perform a coronary angiography. » Lacking resources to buy the medications prescribed to him, Minkoro returned to Médecins du Monde in the hope of obtaining them free of charge.
Far from the idea – hackneyed on the right and the far right – that the AME would be used to cover convenience care, a report from the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs and the General Inspectorate of Finances in 2019 recalled that “according to Health Insurance statistics, AME beneficiaries consume fewer “comfort” medications than the general population: this is, for example, the case for cold and cough medications (− 6%), medications for digestive disorders (− 19%) and anti-acne drugs (− 42%)”.
Very frequent non-recourse
At the MDM center in Saint-Denis, which saw around 3,000 people pass through in 2022, people come above all to “problems with diabetes, hypertension, sleep”lists Isabelle Jouy, volunteer nurse. “Last week, a lady came because she had a tumor on her back. This morning, a gentleman was worried regarding his mother who has cancer. I also referred eleven people for tuberculosis screening. »
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