- 51 - 2. The Government 166. The Government presents three different social protection arrangements available to foreign residents in France – the universal sickness coverage (CMU), the state medical assistance (AME) and the emergency fund. - Migrants in a regular situation are entitled to sickness and maternity insurance under the same conditions as French citizens. In order to be affiliated to the general insurance scheme by virtue of the CMU arrangement, people must be able to prove that they have been residing in France for an uninterrupted period of over three months; - Migrants in an irregular situation who have been residing in France for three months or longer (and children with no condition of length of stay) are entitled to the AME (under Article L. 251-1 of the Social Action and Family Code). The AME gives the beneficiary a right to full coverage of medical care and hospital charges without the need to advance any money, except in cases where the medical service provided is considered to be of a minor importance. In addition, any person who do not reside in France but is in the country may ask the minister in charge of social action to benefit from AME; - For migrants in an irregular situation who have been residing in France for less than three months and are therefore entitled neither to the CMU nor to the AME, a socalled emergency and life-saving care fund exists. Article 254-1 of the Social Action and Family Code defines the type of care covered by the arrangement as follows: “emergency care, the absence of which could be life-threatening or lead to a serious, long-term deterioration of the health of the person concerned or the child to be born”. 167. With regard to the supposedly complex procedure of application for the AME, the Government refers to Decree No. 2005-859 of 28 July 2005, listing the documents that may be used as proof of the three months’ residency and which makes express provision for homeless people, stipulating that they may request a body approved within the meaning of Article L. 252-2 of the Social Welfare and Family Code to issue them with an official domiciliation certificate. Residential social reintegration centres may also issue certificates of this type. 168. As regards the fact that the evidence of entitlement to the AME is no longer a simple paper document but a laminated card that cannot be forged, the Government stresses that this procedure in no way constitutes an obstacle to access to care because of its complexity. It brings about increased security to the system and improves the treatment of migrants in an irregular situation. The AME card is the equivalent of the card issued to all those covered by the ordinary French social insurance scheme (the carte vitale) and has the same technical features. 169. As for the introduction of the annual contribution of €30 charged for the entitlement to the AME, the Government points out, firstly, that the Constitutional