A recommendation for a recommendations category?

I find a lot of your information confusing and am not sure about its value to new arrivals. Perhaps it’s because my roots are in England and the vocabulary I use is British English.
In a previous post you refer to the French health system as the National Health Service or NHS. For British readers that is immediately a problem because the NHS exists but not in France. It is the name of the state run health service in Britain. The French system might be a national health service but it is not the NHS, in my opinion an important difference.
In another post you state that Medical Insurance starts with the Carte Vitale. I disagree. Medical cover might start with the CV but Insurance us something completely different. This is made more confusing within the French system where most people within the health service do take out an optional top up insurance/assurance. This is quite different from private medical insurance and, in fact, mutuelles are subtly different from insurance companies.
You also confuse the use of PUMA. It is the shortened form of Protection Universelle MAladie and information about it is visible on the Ameli web site under that name.
Stella has picked up on another confusion.
Health care is one of the biggest problems faced by many people when they move to France. Muddying the waters does not help these people to navigate through the system.

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Ameli is the top-up insurance, presuming that one is already insured by l’Assurance Maladie - yes, it can be confusing for Brits who make no distinction between the two because (evidently) theirs is “all-in-one”?

For Americans, French HealthCare is a comparative godsend. And ObamaCare is likely to get worse since the Republicans are trying to gut-it budget-wise …

I am employing the generic term: A National Healthcare System (NHS).

You’re a Brit and think I am referring to the British NHS. I am not.

Presumably, we are not ALL British using this site …

Excuse me Tony… but I think your quote is not correct. Ameli is not top-up Insurance…“Ameli.fr : le site internet de l’Assurance maladie”…on the Site is info about financial aid or access to health cover for those in dire financial straits. Not quite the same thing as “top-up”. :wink:

and rather than NHS… perhaps talking about Sécurité Social or Assurance Maladie might be a better idea.

Yes, I think you are right. There are so damn many appelations!

See here: l’assurance maladie en ligne. The URL name is “amelie” but the site is actually the CPAM (which I have always used - I have French Health Insurance since it’s been “on-line”).

My apologies. Which means that top-up insurance is exclusively “privatized”. Having said that, when I last looked it cost 150/200€ per month. But, I am told by friends who employ it that one must be very careful - the danger is in the small-print.

Thank you for the correction … !

I’ve tried to correct my post regarding the healthcare procedure in France.

Thanks for spotting the error!

I did not think you were referring to the National Health Service, I was just pointing out that your use of the term was unnecessarily confusing. It doesn’t matter that not all the people who read this page are British as a proportion of them are, so why risk confusing them?
From your response I presume that your statement that any corrections or other suggestions are more than welcome was just a hollow gesture.

Moving right along …

Hi Tony…

Topup costs will vary. Depending on what items and how much cover for said items, the person wants/can afford.

I would suggest that folk ask at several offices…and compare the quotes. Better to take a little time and effort … to make sure the cover meets requirements.

and it is important that folk realize that topup is just that…something that only gets paid if Sociale Securite pay something first… (at least that is how I understand things)

> it is important that folk realize that topup is just that…something that only gets paid if Sociale Securite pay something first… (at least that is how I understand things)

I frankly have no idea. I concluded that 150€ a month for a year (1800€) was a bit too much year after year after year. That sum adds up over time.

So, I decided not to take it.

Which meant that the one time I had to share a room a guy it was difficult to explain to this family that 10 in the room visiting him was a bit too much on a Sunday afternoon.

I survived, but I wont be going back to that hospital again …

Just a snippet from the Expatica Article:

"Applying for French health insurance

The first step to acquiring health insurance in France is to either join the French social security system or visit your local CPAM (Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie). If you’re employed, your employer will typically register you with social security and then arrange your healthcare formalities, although it is your responsibility to check this has been done. Self-employed workers apply via the Régime Social des Indépendants (RSI).

If you qualify under PUMA, you can visit your local CPAM (Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie) or send your application by post. The CPAM will assess your health rights but it is the social security authority URSSAF that will determine if you need to pay contributions towards your healthcare costs; if you earn below a certain threshold, you will qualify for free healthcare (under CMU-C).

You will typically be asked to present a CERFA form, proof of identity and legal residence (passport and visa), translated birth and marriage certificates, proof of three-months’ residence in France (utility bills, rental agreement), bank details (RIB) and evidence of income and your declaration de medecin traitant (doctor registration). During registration, you can also add beneficiaries or dependents (ie. husband, wife, legal partner or children) to your health insurance in France. After you have registered, the CPAM will ask you to send proof of income to determine your contribution amount, if necessary. For more information you can call the CPAM’s English-speaking helpline at 3646 (from France) or +33 811 70 3646 (from abroad); fees apply.

Once you have been approved and activated your health insurance in France, you may need to make a formal request for your carte vitale (green card), the national insurance card in France, as it is not always automatically issued. The card includes information necessary for making healthcare claims but does not store medical information. It is recommended to ask for an attestation de couverture sociale or a temporary French health insurance card as a carte vitale can sometimes take long to process.

You will need to present your carte vitale at every health appointment (doctor, hospital, pharmacy) and will generally receive reimbursement directly into your bank account within a week. You can update your carte vitale annually by inserting it in the green box that can be found at CPAM offices and some hospitals and pharmacies."

as I say… it is all down to choice…and what one is prepared to pay. Many folk are grateful not to have bills to pay (or not much) when some ghastly health thing crops up. It’s a bit like …third-party, fire and theft…v…fully comp…on cars…:smile: