CPAM & Feuille de Soins help

Sorry Finn - they are and I have been for the last 9 years. RSI, URSSAF and CIPAV. RSI - Bourge is the journos office - we are classed as Correspondents Locale.

Heavens - you are normally correct!

Freelance journalists also come under this one too

Just to add a quick PS (the site won’t let me edit either…) We became “makers of plastic art” ( :wink: Createurs des arts plastiques) because AGESSA wouldn’t have us. I know artists who have been lumped in this catchall basket too. A bit of bureaucratic fudging perhaps?

I was trying to reply to Finn’s very interesting remarks to my posting but the site refuses to let me - apologies for sticking it here. Thanks for your contribution. Finn opens yet more cans of worms. We paid an English-speaking French tax adviser before we moved to France. He said we are NOT obliged to declare overseas earned royalties - actually I did declare them the first couple of years because I’d forgotten his advice but I wasn’t going to this year. We are much better off sticking with CPAM by the sounds of it. Maybe our ages (65 & 52) had something to do with the final decisions of the responsible bodies. We also earn a (very) small income from B&B and hosting students. All this seems to be accomplished without having to pay extra contributions to other caisses.
I sincerely hope it is not a tax time bomb. We feel like we cling on by our fingernails as it is. Now one would have to worry whether it was worth having that longed for best seller. Oh for a private income or scooping the Lotto!

thanks jane...

ha!

thanks Clare - no i don't think it's all bad AT ALL!

i'll dig out my original paperwork - i'm pretty certain we didn't opt for ANY of the Caisses. my husband registered in june, and me in Oct - I'll have a good and proper look at all the paperwork, and perhaps a visit to my RSI... a NEW experience!

YOu are right of course - i am asking very general questions and it is hard to give specific answers - STILL i understnad a lot more about it now, thanks

thanks Finn - i'd worked that out!

Hi Teresa, just so you're not worrying about time delays etc I just looked up my original paperwork coz I've got such a BAD memory. I registered for AE 06/10/10 and I received a letter on 05/04/11 saying tht I would receive another form asking for an identity photo in order to recive my carte vitale...so that was 6 months after I had registered. It is true that once you receive it, things are plain sailing from then on, don't forget to take it to you to the pharmacy and hand it to them to be registered. Now at somepoint in between...don't know when..told you I've got a bed memory I was given my numero de securite sociale, can't find paperwork relating to it but again I've got a feeling I phoned them. I am under RAM as you are and as Claire said it is RSI who take care of your contributions for healthcare etc. I know we're not in the same department, I'm in the Gard , but I have got a number for you if you want it...it's not a number for my area so possibly they could cover your region also,(its no where near me) .

So, I've got RAM in Bourges, dept 18 tel: 0811 013 030

Hope that helps a bit.

And just to add. It is not all bad. Once you have your card, it is the simplest system to deal with. Didn't want to put you of with my last post. Sorry

Hi Teresa, the doctor would not know who your caisse is and be able to tell you where to send it but RSI can tell you.

Obviously everyone has different experiences but, RSI are only the organisation who are responsible for collecting your tax and cotisations as well as the issue of your social security number only. They do not reimburse any medical costs. Although RAM has been mentioned a lot, this is only one of the caisses. There are at the very least another five which is why I suggested that you check your registration form for auto entrepreneur to see which you selected. It is in section 7 under the heading Declaration Sociale. Scan down ans then you will see Assurance maladie and this is where you will have made your selection. It may be that at the time you did not select one from the drop down list. As I remember it just so happens that RAM is at the top of that list which is why most choose this one. If you did not select a caisse then you really do need to go and see your RSI office to get your records amended. Teresa, How long ago did you register for Auto Entrepreneur? Have you got an attestation yet from RSI? This shows you social security number and the code of the organisation you have selected to deal with your reimbursements. I am not sure any of us on the forum have asked enough specific questions to ascertain you exact position with your AE to be able to truly comment on your exact position yet. It is all well and good talking about procedures, but it depends on how long you registered, how far the registration has go in the system and what paperwork you have. Believe me unless you know at what stage you are with the registration at RSI it is impossible to give a clear instruction on what you should do. And I know, I have helped so many friends with this now and have really got to understand how RSI works and how painfully slow they can be if you don't keep on top of them.

thank you all - great (if differing advice) in particular thanks to Robin - who flatters my 47 years! and to Jane Canty thanks - pefect and precise. My husband in particular will be thrilled - it is always his plan to wait for things to arrive in the post... we are not in any great rush at all for refunds - we are used to the irish system where you pay and get nothing back!, and of course the English system where you wait to see a doctor for so long you are actually better before the appontment - (i had a slipped disc - 7 months for an mri - on a sunday morning - the doors to tat part of the hospital locked. gave up....)

so, to recap... blue form i fill in AND the doc has to stamp and tell me where to send it. (you are all agreed on this! - apart from the dox secretary who gave it back to me with a kindly shrug)

keep everything, including copies of scrips, and stickers from medecine boxes

Finn says we have to register ourselves online with RAM gamex...

Jane C says it's been done automatically

and Yvette says once registered and up and running it all works well.

thank you friends...

xteresa

Clare S says i've opted for one or another organisation when i registered for AE

Hmmm - this is interesting because we are self-employed but after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing we are registered under CPAM for CMU. And this has been the case for 3 1/2 years now. Our caisse should have been AGESSA but they wouldn't have us (they have a minimum annual amount you must earn through royalties alone - they obviously don't realise that writers must do more than write books these days). After much deliberation, having to get AGESSA to write to URSAAF etc we finally were accepted by CPAM. Nobody ever mentioned RAM.....

BTW I was amazed to find that if you see a doctor in the same practice other than your own "medecin traitant" you will only be refunded 30% rather than 70%....

Ah - then I was lucky - they offered to send them off with their post.

I think we both assume from Teresa's photo that she is too young to get the 2 free years which pensioners enjoy courtesy of the nice people in Newcastle

AE is different. You are cared for by an organisation that you would have opted for at registration. We are RAM Gamex. If you refer back to your original paperwork you will be able to see who you opted for when you completed your AE application. Then look on the internet under pages jaunes to discover your nearest office and then you should send it there. Hope this helps. If you have not got you social security number yet, then visit you local RSI who should be able to do this for you. But keep copies they are all notorious for losing paper and if you have to send by post do it for signature.

Hi Robin, that's after Teresa has her Carte Vitale, untill she gets it she has to keep them and then send them to RAM once it's arrived. After that yes they will be sent off by pharmacy.

I didn’t know the Carte Vitale was changing to a photo card. Does the system send you something to get a new photo card ?

Dear Teresa,

About your question concern the social security issues, all u have to do ask ur nearest (mairie) and obtain carte vital from (assurance maladie)soon as poss. if u send that (feuille) make sure to include all the papers other wise it'll be send back in any case get that carte vital ...

thanks..

Hi there

Just as Finn says do not forget to take the bar code stickers off the medicine boxes and to keep copies of all of your prescriptions as well as the feuille des soins as you need them to lake the claim. I ALWAYS forget to keep the stickers and it drives me nuts. About 3 weeks after I have finished the course and thrown away the bowes I receive a letter asking for the stickers. Some pharmacists are kind enough to do it for you straight away. You have to stick the stickers onto the feuille des soins and attach the copy of the prescription. If you are self employed then as Finn says you will be with the RSI (ramgex) rather than CPAM and the 2 absolutely do not communicate so it's important not to send your information to the wrong one or you may never get it back. Unless you're desperate to be refunded immediately I'd wait to receive the carte vitales which will have all of the information with them. If you have taken out private medical insurance as well then you should have received a document from them with your insurance number. You should register these details with your pharmacist too and then the claim for them will go through straight away. The RSI will otherwise contact them on your behalf but will need the details. The carte vitales changed recently to photo cards - mine from the RSI came through very quickly but I know people who have been waiting for eons for their new ones to come through so don't panic if it takes longer than you expect. They do however make the reimbursements fairly rapidly :) Bon courage! On the bright side once this part is over it seems to work very well :)