Health care provider

OK, I know I will be swamped with all sorts of information, some correct, some not so, but here goes! I am an autoentrepreneur, and my husband is registered as my dependant so he is covered by RSI for doctors bills etc (plus top up insurance). In March he will start to receive his UK state pension. Which presumably means he will get the S1 (?) form, stating that the UK will pay his healthcare.


Does this mean I have to deregister him as my dependant, and that he needs to register independantly with CPAM? Or would the UK payments be made to RSI?

Like i said in a earlier post Julia if you are a member of the french system then newcastle can refuse you the S1 on receipt of your pension from the UK and i am hearing of far more people being refused of late.

Thank you Brian, i do not think i will have a choice but to remain in the french system.

Once we are X number of years in the French system that is where we stay. I enquired some time back when thinking I might not work again but once they knew how long I had been in the French health insurance system it was made quite clear to me that there was no need. I perhaps overemphasised using the word 'disowned'. I was, indeed, an AE before retirement age and had been self-employed, based in the UK for a very long time, so always one foot out anyway.

Once you get the UK state pension, you can ask for the S1, and the UK then pays the basic part of your healthcare here. So you are not "disowned" if you are receiving a UK state pension. It's only the early-retirees who were "disowned" which is why so many of us set up as AE's.

Once you are a few years, not sure how many, the UK 'disowns' us, so we are in here and that is that, no going back.

Will you still be covered if you stopped paying contributions in france,i am just trying to get a clear picture before our meeting with the MSA.

No, never had one. Pushing six years in the system including getting on for three years of quite serious health problems but since I still work and pay contributions here I am covered. Whilst over retirement age, I also have young children on my card, my non-UK wife has her own card since she is also an AE.

Brian are you saying that you are covered by the S1 for medical cover.

No. I receive UK state pension but still work and have full cover here. If he is continuing to be covered by you, presumably he is on your Carte Vitale, then he is covered as before.

We have just been to hand in the S1 for my OH, who up to now has been my dependant. They gave us a photocopy of his S1, but the problem is that in Macon everything for "immigrants" is dealt with in Chalon-sur-Saone and I have had real problems with them in the past, bad enough to take them to the European Commission, so we will be watching things very carefully.

It may be worth a call to Newcastle to explain just how inefficient Chalon is and ask them if they could let us know if and when they receive their copy.

Thank you for that information, Michael, it's pretty much what Tony at SOFICA's advised me. And my top-up insurance is cheaper as I am AE so will not be asking for an S1 - not until I decide to stop work and become husband's dependant!

Thanks for the tip Julia. I have to say, leaving France 22 years ago was far easier than returning to it! If all goes well it will only take us a few months to set up our business, so we shouln't be without cover for very long.

Julia, if you are paying into the french system and your husband is your dependant the rules regarding the issue of the S1 state that it will not be issued to you if you are already working and paying into the french system.

If when applying for the S1 you forget to say that you are part of the french system and are issued with one the only department that will accept the S1 is CPAM, that will mean you will have to resign from the RSI before you apply, which leaves you without cover, a very grey area indeed, one of which i have decided not to test and have stayed with the MSA of which i have just started the route to retirement within the french system, only time will tell if it was the right decision.

I would be interested to find out how other people have approached this quagmire ?

I had a call from Tony Mason of SOFICA's, who provides our top-up insurance. Top marks to him for recognising that I was one of their clients! He gave me some really helpful information. Laurence, it may be worth you getting in touch with them for impartial advice.

If you are setting up a business when you get here you will eventually get some cover. In the meantime, if you need the doctor it doesn't cost a fortune to visit the GP, and we didn't have any insurance for several years, we just paid as we needed (which fortunately wasn't often and wasn't much.

My husband is only 60 and is claiming his teacher's pension, not his state pension, so that's why they told him the S1 didn't exist then. Thanks for making it clear.

I got my state pension this March. Initially I wrote to "Pensions" several months beforehand and asked them for my pension - I say this just in case you didn't realise you had to claim your pension. Next I wrote to Newcastle and asked them to send me an S1 valid on my 65th birthday. On receipt of my S1 I took it personally to my local CPAM where they registered it and gave me a form (attestation de droits à la assurance maladie) which basically said I was now entitled in my own right to health care. I used this for a month until my Carte Vitale arrived. I'm not an AE so I wouldn't swear to it - but - I think once your husband gets registered by CPAM he's in the system in his own right and not part of RSI. Important - when I took my S1 to the CPAM to register they didn't return their copy to Newcastle; this is done to confirm that they are giving you healthcare. If you don't ensure they return their completed/stamped copy there will be problems later with Newcastle when you try and get the S1 renewed; so a personal vsit to register the S1 is a must - don't trust the post and their maladministration; you can then ensure they understand they have to send their copy back to UK

The S1 is not being cancelled but is only available to those entitled to a UK state pension. It used to be available for two years (I think) for people under pension age, but the UK did not need to do that under EU law and has cancelled that concession.

My husband and I are planning to move to France in the summer, and were told about the S1 when we went to the "Place in the Sun" show in October. However when my husband phoned to enquire about getting an S1 a couple of weeks ago, he was told that they are being cancelled. We haven't managed to find out what to do yet, as we were planning to use the S1 whilst we were setting up our business, then get cover through our work, so now we have to find a plan B. Let's just hope we don't get sick.