Mutuelles santé

But thar is not covered by a mutuelle - it is the normal French health care for long duration illness.

Do try Exclusive their literature is very straight forward and easy to understand. It specializes in English speaking clients and we saved a lot of money by changing to them from Generali. We get physiotherapy as well as other medical cover.

Thanks for that Roger. I did the research & guess it’s a matter of opinion. We’ve had more out than we put in so far I have to say. It’s good to have the choice anyway.

Thanks Tracy. I mentioned Soficas & I think I did post it but would like clarity about what’s allowed so thanks for that. I’ll take it as a glitch!

Hi Miriam, not sure your comment has been removed, are you sure you posted it. SFN don't normally remove stuff without saying why and inviting you to repost without whatever offended? Do you want to try again?

That's nothing. One of our old boules players has a weeks course of anti cancer something injections each month. I asked him to enquire as to the cost of the treatment & he was told about 500 euro each day. Add to this the cost of a taxi to take him to hospital each day plus nurses etc time & the cost must be 50,000 euros per annum. Not even Brian can beat that!

While I agree you should investigate the level of cover you need you need to take into account any Maladies longue duree which are covered 100%, heart disease, cancer, Diabetes etc.

The normal 100% cover normally works fine for treatments provided that the practitioner works within the Standard scheme, Opticians, Dentists and similar can and do provide a basic service within these costs. I'm not convinced that the 125, 150% levels are useful for anything other than lining the agents pocket :-) Personally I use a price comparison site

I can imagine. My statements from RSI and our insurer have shown €32,000 since two years ago come next month, my kiné is ongoing until I get a prosthetic shoulder joint, perhaps this year and then will be a year or more again, so who knows what the bill will be be. Including my new glasses last Saturday, I believe I have spent roughly €40 myself. I have 100% cover on two things and could sometimes sit and worship my CV and mutuelle card!

Then there is one daughter's regular treatments and checks on top! Value for money as far as I am concerned, no quibbles at all.

I have just mentioned you in another post & hope you are better now. Ditto story with my husband who laughed at me for insisting we had top cover. He was rushed into hospital in December and we were so glad not to have money worries on top of everything else. Wish you well.
Regards,
Miriam

I’m slightly bemused by having my comment removed as I named my mutuelle company and can see that others have stayed on here. I hope this website is objective as there has been a great deal of advertising from those selling satellite dishes etc. What’s the difference? I would have thought that the important thing is that information is accurate. I have no interest in anything to with healthcare but feel strongly that a mutuelle is necessary for peace of mind. I’m retired and obviously more likely to have health issues than a younger person but advise anyone settling in France to read up on healthcare cover and costs to save worry later. My daughter-in-law is French and all her family have mutuelles. I think that speaks volumes. Read what Mike Longhurst has posted. My husband was taken seriously ill before Christmas and we would have been up the creek without our cover. He’s fine now but took back all he said about me being over cautious! Good health everyone.

Basic cover only but two new knees at private clinique, followed by 3 weeks in another clinique, private room Kiné etc we paid nothing, Just the new knees were over 20,000€ plus the cost of reeducation, ambulances, x-rays and scans.

Try and get a mutuelle that deals with an organization called Sainteclair you get better deals from opticians and dentists if you are having to have bridges etc done

I was just about to give the same advice when I read this comment. You do need to sit down and work out what you are likely to require. If you can afford the maximum's and want peace of mind, you can of course pay for that but actually you will find that a policy which covers hospitalisation and a few basic extra's will probably be sufficient as the payments you will make without top up, will not equal the extra premiums you will pay each month. As Dick says, anything serious is already covered by your carte vitale once the illness is registered( and that includes all checks related to it, so heart for diabetics etc).

Some examples you might find helpful. My mother-in-law takes five different pills a day for a variety of age related illnesses(she is 92) and on average we pay 10€-15€ a month in excess of her CPAM refunds for these.

When she needed new lens for her glasses recently, I was charged just 30€ a lens. She will not require any more this year. All opticians have '1ere prix' frames. They may not be prominently on show but ask the optician. They are not as unattractive as you might imagine.

I am not sure about dental charges. If you think you may need a lot of expensive work, this may be an area of insurance to look carefully into. I suspect the CPAM pay very little towards these.The advice to discuss what is covered with an agent, was good advice.

If you see specialists at private clinics they will often charge more than the money refunded. You need to be sure your policy is actually for this ( That's the bit where the policy says 100%, 200% 300% etc, etc) because you maybe paying extra each month for something you will still need to pay. You can always ask your doctor to send you to a specialist at a hospital where the fees are usually less or like us, decide if the reputation of the specialist is worth the addition and pay him/her directly and not through the insurance.

We have lived here 15 years. The medical system here is second to none. My husband is diabetic(insulin dependant) and over the years has needed a variety of treatments for related problems. He now has an insulin pump which was supplied free and once a month all related materials are delivered also. We have made some contributions at various times but all major costs have been covered.

I don't know if you speak french but many companies provide an English speaking adviser. Pacifica at Credit Agricole has a dedicated phone line. Finally, however tedious the idea seemed to you, you must ask for devis from several companies. Even my GP told me that recently when I was searching for a top up for my mother-in-law.

Said already the other day, but I paid €5.67 for my over €200 new glasses last Saturday morning. Most of it was covered by my mutuelle and the bit I paid was because I had no prescription from doctor or ophthalmist although I had my December eye check with me to say which lenses I need. If you have optical costs in your policy it is once again cheaper here than in the UK.

I find ours is very good and well worth what we pay. The health care in France is wonderful and worth every penny paid, whether by mutuelle or out of pocket. Most expats are retired which means rising health care needs and considering the low price of the mutuelle,why not add a good nights sleep as one of the benefits. About the phone calls, just say no thank you and hang up. Usually, just hearing my American "Hello" they hang up. Good luck.

Chris,

Brian`s advice to sit with your agent is the right way to go.

Opening up a savings account instead off having a top up insurance will not cover you for the thousands of euros it would cost if you have a serious health problem as we have found out on 2 occasions - without our mutuelle we would have been in big financial difficulty.

The enhanced package is offered because some items which are reimbursed may be charged at a higher than average rate by some specialists - we have a 125% cover.

Optical, dental reimbursements are limited as to the number of times you claim ins ayear - although we get our optical needs sorted when we go back to UK at half the cost French opticians charge!

Simples! Work out what you REALLY NEED. How many trips to the optician par annum? How many trips to the dentist? How often are you going to be hospitalised? And need TV telephone etc in the room? That will tell you what cover to go for. Many Mutuelles don't offer basic cover up front - you often have to ask for it.

I have had BASIC cover (Hospitalisation + doctor + pharmacy) since 2001 and got more from it than paid in. Being Diabetic - this is covered 100% by CPAM as are the other big four - Stroke, Alzheimers, Heart and Cancer.

Don't get conned by Mutuelles selling you more than you need.

We have a top of the range insurance with AXA and there are so many days that I thank god that we do have it. Never had a day sick (not even a cold) in my 55 years of life and the almost 4 years ago my health world turned upside down when I suffered from Toxic Shock Syndrome and I have been in and out of hospital numerous times, IRM (7 visits), Xrays (multiple but 45 Xrays taken in just one visit!!!) , CAT Scans (3), every type of specialist you can think of, I have visited them all and continue to do so. A couple of years ago my wife fell down the stairs and broke her Leg/Knee and after the op she had to spend 3 months in a recovery centre with daily therapy sessions. The costs to pay for all this would have bankrupt us but as it was not a penny to pay as all covered 100% by the CV and top up insurance. Anyone who says "I have never had a day in hospital...pray to god you do not end up like me because I was so certain that I would live my life and be healthy as old age started to creep up, now I fear for the near future never mind the long term future.

Rgds, Mike L

Yes, people like yours truly. My payments have rocketed but what I am covered for it costs me peanuts in real terms. When the local hospital panicked over their big boo-boo, I was shipped off to a private clinic by private ambulance to be dealt with by an expensive surgeon twice, with a total of 12 days in said clinic. Cost? Zilch. Looking at what the bills would have been if I was not covered, if my hair was not already gone that way it would have gone white on the spot.

I've just had two ceramic crowns fitted at a cost of over 1,400 euros. I got just over 400 back with the Carte vital & a bit over 200 from the mutual. Not brilliant, but when I had 2 teeth capped in Blighty about 20 years ago it cost me about 600 quid with nothing back so it doesn't seem too bad to me. I have no doubt that I pay out a shed load more than I get back with my mutual but I look on it as not only an insurance but a public service to those whose claims exceed their payments :-)