Couverture Maladie Universelle

The French

Universal Health Coverage Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized a ...

(

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

: ''Couverture maladie universelle'', abbreviated as "CMU") is the

social security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifical ...

program concerning health care, which was implemented in January 2000 (''loi n^o 99-641 du 27 juillet 1999''). It was drafted by Prime Minister

Lionel Jospin Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002. Jospin was First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and the party's candidate for President of France in ...

's leftist government in 1999, on the initiative of Minister of Social Affairs and Employment

Martine Aubry Martine Louise Marie Aubry (; née Delors; born 8 August 1950) is a French politician. She was the First Secretary of the French Socialist Party (''Parti Socialiste'', or PS) from November 2008 to April 2012, and has been the Mayor of Lille (No ...

. In compliance with this program, medical expenses are reimbursed to all people who have been legally residing in France for over 3 months, whereas illegal aliens are entitled to State medical aid (''aide médicale d'État'', abbreviated as "AME"). An investigation completed in 2006 by

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

Médecins du Monde ''Médecins du monde'' (MdM; ), or Doctors of the World, is an international humanitarian organization which provides emergency and long-term medical care to the world's most vulnerable people. It also advocates to end health inequities. It was f ...

showed that approximately 10% of French physicians refused to treat patients covered by the CMU, while 40% refused to treat patients covered by the AME. {{DEFAULTSORT:Couverture Maladie Universelle Health care in France Social security in France