It exists but it is minimal. The “fraud” to state medical aid is “limited” with “a detected anomaly rate of 1.3%”, assured Thursday the Minister of Health Olivier Véran, questioned by the right on health coverage foreigners in an irregular situation. This recurring debate on State medical aid took place again in the National Assembly during the examination of the budgetary mission dedicated to State health expenditure: 1.3 billion euros of appropriations which do not appear in the Social Security budget.
The major part of these amounts, just over 1 billion euros, finances state medical aid in 2022, up slightly compared to 2021. The AME budget represented 800 million euros in 2017.
On the right, LR rapporteur Véronique Louwagie attacked an MEA “too generous” and “holes in the racket in the fight against fraud”. On the far right, the non-registered member and close to the RN Emmanuelle Ménard criticized the “worrying increase” in the cost of the AME.
The budget documents mention “382,899 beneficiaries” at the end of 2020, against 228,036 ten years earlier.
“Humanitarian” and “health” policy
Olivier Véran defended a policy that is both “humanitarian” and “health”: “the health crisis (of Covid-19) has shown that our collective health is also that of the weakest among us”.
“However,” “we are fighting against fraud,” continued the minister. He cited an investigation mentioned in the budget documents with an “anomaly rate detected on a double check of files” at 1.34%, in 2020. “The phenomena of fraud are limited”, he assured. AME “is certainly not the goose that lays the golden eggs”.
The left defended in unison the AME, a “gesture of elementary humanity” which is the subject of a “lamentable political instrumentalisation”, according to the communist Pierre Dharréville. Véronique Louwagie has also returned to the charge on the expenses of the Ministry of Health with consulting firms, during the Covid crisis. “Since March 2020, the ministry has placed 47 orders in favor of eight consulting firms for an amount of 25 million euros,” she insisted. “The use of these cabinets does not shock me but indicates a worrying loss of expertise on the part of the health authorities”, in his eyes.
A growing solidarity budget
In the evening, the deputies voted for the budgetary mission dedicated to solidarity, integration and equal opportunities: 27.6 billion euros planned for 2022, up 1.4 billion compared to 2021.
Secretary of State Sophie Cluzel highlighted an additional redeployment of eight million euros in favor of judicial representatives for the protection of adults (MJPM), these professionals who exercise supervision over vulnerable people. She mentioned the “recruitment” of 200 full-time equivalents, upgrading and funding of training.
The deputies also voted an amendment to the tune of 2.5 million euros to finance an experiment (“Pilot ‘Budget”) whose aim is to get people out of financial fragility thanks to microcredit and to avoid them procedures. of over-indebtedness.