Supporting illegal migrants carries a substantial cost for taxpayers.

The Senate, the upper house of the French parliament, has voted by a large majority to abolish public health insurance for migrants without residence permits, with 200 senators in favour and 136 against. There is a centre-right majority in the upper house, but Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party is not represented.

As is known, supporting rejected asylum seekers and illegal migrants costs French taxpayers €1.2 billion a year. The insurance, just like in Germany, covers the full medical and dental costs of all those who have been in France for at least three months. From now on though, the French health insurance will only cover their emergency medical care in cases of acute pain or pregnancy.

Left-wing political parties were outraged by the Senate’s decision. The French Greens spoke of shame and endless xenophobia, while the Socialists accused the government of being an accomplice of the right. President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling French party, Renaissance, is divided on the issue. While Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin is in favour of abolition, Health Minister Aurélien Rousseau is against it.

The lower house of parliament will start debating the Senate bill from December. The Renaissance (171 seats) will likely receive support from its coalition partners (70 seats), as well as the National Rally (88 seats) and the Republicans (62) on this issue. The absolute majority requires 279 seats.

In Germany, where health insurance for migrants is valid from day one, the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been criticising this approach for years. Most recently, Friedrich Merz, leader of the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has denounced the fact that illegal migrants can receive dental treatments while Germans hardly ever get an appointment at their dentists. This has sparked fierce attacks in the media and from the German government, the German Junge Freiheit newspaper reports.