Please explain Frencg healthcare

[thesleepyprincess]

Hello,

Further to my thread in Chat about learning French, we are now in the process of buying a house and we will be moving to France in the next 3 or so months

I will be on here a lot I daresay asking for lots of advice - right now I have just two questions:

1. Healthcare in France - I understand that it is partly paid for through social service contributions as PAYE...is that correct? And that when you visit a doctor/ hospital/ get a prescription you get a special receipt ( a feuille de soins??) so you can claim back some of the cost? If this is right, where do you go to claim back the money? And how do they refund it? What about regular, repeat prescriptions - do you have to go through the refund process each time?

2. Taking cats to France - I'm in the process of getting our cats ready. They are already microchipped and are having their rabies jabs on Tues. Does anyone know if they won't be allowed into France for 6 months from first clear blood test, as in the UK? Or can they come straight with us when we go?

Merci beaucoup!

FRENCH healthcare - oops.

Will you have a salary in France?

DH will (French contract etc.) I won't for the time being.

I have woken this morning at 5am, full of butterflies and unable to get back to sleep!

If you are married, your DH's French payslip will have deductions for sécurité sociale and, hopefully, a mutuelle (top up health insurance) that will cover his whole family.

You will need to register with your local caisse primaire d'assurance maladie for your sécurité sociale reimbursements. Your DH's company's HR should explain all this to him.

You must insist on getting a copy of your DH's company's mutuelle policy so that you know exactly how much you will be reimbursed - each company has a different policy.

OK, thanks.

re: the cats....they will be allowed in to France with you immediately after the jabs, but obviously won't be allowed back into UK until after the 6 months is up.

Bonsoir is right - your dh must register with your local CPAM in order to apply for a Carte Vitale. It will be in dh's name (as he will be the one making the social security payments) but the whole family is included. You will need this card every time you visit the doctor, hospital, dentist or need a prescription filled at the pharmacy. Until you have it (and it can take a while to come through) you will need to pay up front so save all your receipts and then claim the money back via CPAM. Once you have the Carte Vitale you will only need to pay for the parts that are not covered by the system (French health service covers 70%). That's when the top-up insurance (mutuelle) comes in. Depending on what level you go for will determine what, if any, contribution you need to make. Reimbursement should occur automatically from your health insurance provider.

French health care can be a mine field and I recommend checking out the forum on Total France for info.

Scary stuff - I'll miss the NHS!

One thing though - DH will still be on his English contract for a while (it's complicated). I was thinking we'd get a temporary holiday-type insurance to cover us until his contract changes - but now I'm not sure if that will work if we are resident in France???

Good news re the cats.

You need a European health insurance card from the NHS, plus private cover which your DH's employer ought to pay for, to cover the transition period/move.

OK. Thanks Bonsoir. Any idea how long a transition period this will cover us for??

The European health insurance card only really works once - you cannot do repeated trips to the GP with it. It is supposed to cover short stays.

Why isn't your DH getting a French contract straightaway? Basically it is his company's responsibility to see that you are covered for health insurance etc and the easiest way is by giving him a French contract asap.

Bonsoir, DH will still be working in the UK for a while after we have moved. He is awaiting a transfer to the Paris branch. The way we are doing it is slightly topsy-turvy but worked out best in terms of finances and school etc.

OK, so you and your DCs are moving ahead of DH because of the start of the school year?

I think that your DH's company should absolutely be covering your out-of-pocket expenses for this - which, of course, include comprehensive health insurance.

Your dh could apply for a workers E106 if he is still resident in the UK. Usually an E106 is issued when you leave the UK and gives you up to 2 years of health care (as long as the NI contributions are up to date). If you are considered a resident of France but working in the UK then you can get a workers E106 to cover you and your family in France. However, if he's living in France and working in France but contributing to the UK system then I suppose the workers E106 mihght still be valid. I suggest he needs to have a talk with the DSS to sort out his status. Basically if he's not contributing to the French system then it is unlikely he will qualify for health cover and he will be expected to sort it out with the UK.

That's a good idea bunjies - he would be working in the UK and paying UK tax and NI although a resident of France.

We will find out exactly what we need to do. I'll post back when we have!

Thanks.

Not that it's really relevant to sleepyprincess, but workers E106 is still valid if you are living and working in France but have a UK employer.

There are a lot of people in this situation up here in the north (UK Borders, police at the tunnel etc)