Insured Like any Others: An Analysis of the Ambulatory Healthcare Consumption of Undocumented Immigrants Covered by State Medical Aid
Petit S. (Bordeaux University), Wittwer J. (Bordeaux University), Dourgnon P. (IRDES), Jusot F. (Paris-Dauphine University, PSL, Leda-Legos, IRDES), Marsaudon A. (IRDES)
Questions d'économie de la santé (Issues in Health Economics) n° 284 - December 2023
ABSTRACT
Undocumented immigrants living in France are not eligible to the otherwise universal public health insurance. The State Medical Aid (Aide Médicale de l’Etat, AME) is a public health insurance scheme dedicated to them. (…)
What impact does the State Medical Aid scheme has on access to healthcare? Previous studies based on the "Premiers Pas" survey have shown that the State Medical Aid scheme is associated with less non-take up of healthcare services, and more medical consultations in medical practices or healthcare centres, rather than in emergency services and NGOs medical facilities. The patterns of healthcare use of immigrants covered by State Medical Aid appear to resemble those of the rest of the population in France.
In this second study, we compare the ambulatory healthcare consumption of the immigrants covered by State Medical Aid with that of persons covered by the non-contributory Comple-mentary Health Solidarity (Complémentaire Santé Solidaire non contributive (CSS-NC) scheme. (…)
The results (…) show that the two populations have similar consumptions regarding most healthcare goods, except for dental and optical care, which are well covered by the CSS-NC, but poorly covered by State Medical Aid.
See also Questions d'économie de la santé n° 284 in French: Des assurés comme les autres. Une analyse des consommations de soins de ville des personnes couvertes par l'Aide médicale de l'Etat.
See also Podcast n° 1 in French: L'Aide médicale de l'Etat aux confins de l'Etat-providence : coût, état de santé, appel d'air, que nous enseigne la recherche ?
