Free French Healthcare - Everything has a cost ! !

Adoption of European Healthcare legislation by the president, Mr Sarkosy, means that many British citizens living in France will lose their right to free healthcare. This has caused mad panic within the French residing British population.

At the editor’s request, I went out in search of information to try and clarify the situation. My first port of call was the local CPAM office to ask what applications they had been given. The representative had no idea of any changes to the right to healthcare for European citizens. She started to panic and phoned the ‘Departemental’ office, where she was informed there had been changes, but they were not put into place yet and that the local offices will be informed later. The representative asked that the Communications Manager contact me for this article and I am still waiting for clarification from her .

Who does this affect?

The reforms affect all Europeans, including British Citizens, who move to France from other countries within the EU and are ‘inactive’. This legislation was created by the European Commission and has already been adopted in other EU countries, such as Spain. There have been cases in different parts of France where British Citizens have been asked to return their Carte Vitale straight away. This seems over-excessive, as the French Government has said that anyone who has a Carte Vitale already and is ‘inactive’, will continue to be covered for six months – from this September. This is probably to leave them time to iron out the wrinkles in the application of the changes.

’Inactive’ ?

Those who are not employed, not self-employed or have taken early retirement i.e. are not at a pensionable age. Sarkosy has said that those who retire under the age of 65 should not be able to benefit from free state healthcare. During the elections, he said: “If you think 53 makes you old enough to retire, then fine, go ahead and retire. But don't expect the state to pay for it.” This comment was given to all French citizens.

Employed or Self-employed

You are covered by the contributions that you have made into the French Healthcare system or your entitlements from your E106 for your first two years in France. It must be clear that if you are employed or selfemployed that the rest of your family is covered by the working person’s health cover. This is particularly relevant for those self-employed cases, where the spouse is registered as a Conjoint(e) Collaborateur(trice).

Unemployed

This covers obviously those persons who have never worked in France. Your E106 covers you for the first two years in France. The state take into consideration the contributions that you have made in the UK. However if after two years you still do not work in France, your rights will disappear. If you have not received any E.. forms from the UK, you have no entitlements to free healthcare. This is particularly worrying for those persons who have income from Chambres d’hôtes or gîtes and do not run this as a business or do not even declare this income to the French Tax authorities. If you have worked in France and have been made unemployed, you should theoretically be covered by the French system for at least the period that you receive unemployment benefits. However I have not been able to get confirmation yet.

Retired

If you are retired and at a pensionable age, you have been covered by your E121. You are entitled to French Healthcare, as any other pensioner. Where a problem arises is for those on early retirement. Until now those Britons who have taken up early retirement in France are covered for the first two years by their E106 forms after which time under the previous French system they automatically became resident and were entitled to free basic French health cover. Now they are seen as unemployed/ inactive and lose their rights after the first two years.

It is particularly important to note, for those who are ’retired’ and one in the couple has not reached a pensionable age. In the past when you applied for your Carte Vitale, if one of you had your E121, the other was automatically covered under the retiree’s social security number. It has been said that the non-pensionable spouse will no longer be covered, until they reach retirement age. If the spouse has only two years to reach retirement age they will be covered by the E106 for that period. If not, plans need to be made for the period before retirement.

What are the solutions?

Before, if you were in the inactive category, you were able to pay a subscription to join the French Healthcare System. This is no longer possible. Now the options available are:

* Take out private health insurance to cover you totally or partially for your health costs e.g. hospitalisation cover

* Do not do anything – it is not an obligation to take out an insurance policy. You can take the risk and pay any medical costs out of your own pocket.

* Find employment – full time or part-time (there are limitations on the minimum number of hours)

* Create your own business ( limitations on minimum income)

Conclusion

What I discovered, whilst doing my researched on this subject, is that the situation is not entirely clear. I am sure that in the next few months there will be greater clarification, but for the moment do not panic, you have at least six months before this becomes a real problem. It is understandable that with the deficit in the healthcare budget, that if you live in France and don’t contribute anything, why should you get anything for free. For greater guidance, please contact the CPAM englishspeaking Help-Line 0820 90 42 12