State medical aid subject to three months of residence and creation of emergency care coverage

Article 97 of the 2003 Amending Finance Act amends the Social Action and Families Code. State medical aid (AME) is restricted to foreign nationals living in France 'continuously for more than three months' without a valid residence permit (Art. L. 251-1). A new Article L. 254-1 provides for the coverage, through a flat-rate State grant to the national health insurance fund, of emergency care provided by hospitals to undocumented foreign nationals not receiving AME, where the lack of care would endanger life or cause serious and lasting harm to health. The share of costs covered by a deposit paid to the hospital remains payable by the patients.