I think the point is that in issuing an S1, the UK is accepting responsibility for a person’s healthcare costs. The conditions for eligibility for an S1 are fixed by EU directive. So the UK should issue S1s who meet those conditions. I suppose it’s possible that France has to confirm or provide information to the UK to help them make their decision but your post made it sound as if France was telling DWP how to do its job, which is an interesting notion!
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I’ve dealt with S1 situations both for pensioners and their dependants (DWP) and for dependants of a UK worker (HMRC) and in neither case did France have to confirm to the UK that they should issue an S1. The UK should just do it as per EU rules.
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Admittedly the HMRC is a pain though. My ex has to apply for mine annually and last year they told him not to ring for the application form until two weeks before the S1 ran out. That was the first year in 11 years that I’d actually had it in time for the renewal, so I had high hopes for this year. This year they told him they’d send him the application form within three weeks, so it was already going to be late before he could even apply for it. 3 weeks later and he hasn’t had the form yet and so my carte vitale won’t work if I need to access healthcare. I’ll be able to get fueille de soins and claim back later, when it finally arrives, but it’s a pain. For me a lot of the pain is having to chase up my ex to chase up HMRC.
Maybe it’s a new thing? As this was only a few weeks ago.
I wouldn’t have thought they’d be introducing new procedures at this stage in the game. The UK hasn’t caught up on EU law as it is and now they’re trying to leave it behind 
It doesn’t make sense as it’s not up to French bureaucrats to decide whether the UK is someone’s competent state - though they will if forced to, if they think the UK isn’t sticking to the rules. The rule is simple - if you work here then France is your competent state, otherwise your home state should issue you with an S1 or explain that you aren’t entitled to one and why.
Why should France become expert on how the UK systems work? They don’t know whether it’s DWP or HMRC who are responsible for issuing S1s. Even the DWP don’t seem to know since I’ve heard of them issuing letters saying people aren’t entitled to an S1 when in fact they are - but it’s the HMRC that are responsible for issuing it.
Would HMRC or DWP have a clue about all the caisses to ask if a French person was entitled to healthcover from France? Would they even bother?
It depends on who you deal with. I know someone who went back to the UK and were made to apply to France for an S1 because their pension was from France (British and also entitled to OAP) but I also know someone who went back and is just happily using the NHS with no questions asked, despite also being on a French pension along with their OAP. By EU rules, it’s France that should be their competent state but by UK rules, the NHS is residence based (and in any case, a British OAP is always entitled to use the NHS), so they don’t always follow EU rules - but sometimes do.
Whereas the rules about the NHS/residents/pensioners are complicated though (mixed up EU and UK rules), the EU rules about being entitled to an S1 from your home state when resident in another member state, either as a pensioner or as a dependant of a worker in the home state, are clear.
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Well I’m sorry you don’t believe me, and I have no knowledge of the logic (or lack of) that this is based on. However, the DWP letter specifically says “ask the authorities in France to apply to this office for S1 cover for dependent family members living with you”. Which is what we did, and I subsequently received my S1. So all I can presume is that the DWP want France to confirm my dependent status, since this does not exist in the UK.
Again, yes of course it does otherwise no dependent person would ever get S1’s… However, in the UK health system I am not aware of anyone over age of 18 and in full control of their senses being considered as a dependent on someone else’s NI number?
My point was that the OP mentioned a letter that his wife had, which seemed to be remarkably similar to the one we received requiring a confirmation from France re my dependent status. Your family obviously didn’t receive this and you sailed straight through the process. I was merely trying to be helpful to the OP in telling him our experience in case that helped him unpick the situation he finds himself in, not write a referenced research paper.
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Thank you to everyone for their input. Sorry it became a contentious subject…
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I have a CV and an online Ameli account.
I get 100% cover due to terminal cancer but have just gone online to find a red exclamation mark with the message in red
Des paiements sont à transmettre à votre organisme complémentaire
Merci de les télécharger et de les adresser à votre complémentaire
What does this mean. I’m cackling it as I presumed everything was paid directly. I don’t have €80,000.00. Please can somebody who knows explain
Payments (here, I think they mean the invoice) are to be sent (directed) to your complementary organization
“Please download them and send them to your complementary (assurers/Mutuelle)”
Do you have a Mutuelle?
If so you, presumably Ameli/the Hospital have not been informed of it so can do no other than send the bill to you.
If this is quite recent to your getting an ALD advice/Mutuelle you should send the advice as requested to your Mutuelle and also speak to the Hospital finance department (supplying a copy of your Mutuelle at the same time) and they will sort it.
Without a mutuelle, even with an ALD 100%, you may still receive a bill from the hospital for fees in excess of the standard reimbursements (such as in private clinics) and the daily hospitalisation (hotel) charges which is why a mutuelle is so important.
It’s quite a shock initially to get a bill but once the paperwork is sorted out I’m sure it will come right in the end but you must speak to the hospital finance department at the first opportunity to get them onside before matters get out of hand.
Before getting a mutuelle and the ALD paperwork, I experienced the same issue but didn’t panic but told the Hospital what was going on.
Another useful resource was the Assistante Sociale at the Hospital who was able to take up the cudgels on our behalf and have things explained sensibly and calmly.
If you have never received a bill in the past - this may well be a glitch.
It is quite possible that the treatment (whatever) was NOT recognised as being ALD related and thus the Hospital have charged you accordingly.
Happened to my OH once, just a glitch … seems the Specialist had not “ticked the box” for ALD on the internal paperwork.
As Graham says… go and speak with them.
That has happened to me a couple of times but has always been corrected promptly - after contacting them and pointing it out.
You do not get 100% cover for the “hotel” fees for the duration of your stay in hospital whether or not you have a ALD in place. If you have a mutuelle, they pick up the cost - if not, you get a bill but its not an enormous daily cost. There is a Govt set scale of charges for treatments and 100% means that is the cost up to which they will pay. If a particular specialism is involved, the hospital fee may be in excess of the set fee and even with the 100% in place, you will get a bill for the excess over and above the set fee.
Barry’s predicament reminds me of a case a few years back, which hit made headlines in the French-English Press - (roughly) Brit pensioner gets a bill for some enormous sum (80,000+ euro rings a bell).
Seems the elderly gent had never taken out a Mutuelle as he reckoned he was healthy and would never need one. 
Mmm… that gamble went wrong… after a lengthy stay in hospital.
Sadly, I have no idea how the affair ended.
I do know a local French gent died with huge medical bills - his heirs had to decide to accept or reject the “inheritance+debts”
Hopefully @Bazza1962 's case is just a glitch… but it might be a good idea for him to take out a Mutuelle asap.
(contact @fabien for some good advice)
It is possible that because you don’t have a mutuelle registered with Ameli this was automatically popped on to your account to alert you that you would need to send bills to the mutuelle yourself - whether or not there were bills to send!
But do look into the point that Graham raised. It is possible that cancer treatments are different , but my ALD 100% cover still leaves me with a few bills to pay. They 18€ a day hospital charge is not always covered, and I have to pay the 0.50€ franchise and 1€ forfaits on each prescription etc. Also if consulting a specialist that charges above the rate set by the social security I have to pay the difference - sometimes that’s 65€ an appointment.
If you have never paid a bill for anything then it is possible that that the forfaits and franchises have added up, as you aren’t billed directly for them but the system waits until you have something that they should reimburse you for and then snaffles the lot. Look carefully at your réleve de compte to see what there is. Will all my prescriptions this adds up to about 200€ a year.
We have just decided to stop our full mutuelle as it was costing us about 1,000€ a year more than it paid back. However, we will change to a hospital only policy instead with 300% cover for specialists as that’s when it could get expensive. That could be an option for you.
and just to add - In my experience the Hospital have always dealt with any query promptly, courteously and and with compassion but you must address it with them at the first opportunity - don’t brush it under the carpet because it won’t go away.
Good. Seems to be sorted then 
Sounds like the glitch got sorted. However, it would be a good idea to go to wherever you were treated and ask them about the glitch.
That way the confusion and stress can be laid to rest.
and, as already suggested - a Mutuelle can mean no stress and no confusion in the future.