Talk to your UK doctor about the pros and cons of switching to one of the new oral anticoagulant drugs https://cks.nice.org.uk/anticoagulation-oral you won’t need a regular INR if taking one.
Hi Stella. Thank you so much for your advice. I’ll certainly go and see the local doctor as soon as I am next over. Thanks again 
Carol
Hi Graham. Thanks for your response. No, as yet neither of us are pensioners. I am 53 and my husband is 63. His works pension will kick in when he’s 65 (in Sept 19). Until then he is medically retired and was lucky that he was insured by his company so still receives a salary. I have recently given up my job so that we can pursue the French project.
We could look into health insurance - probably expensive though, especially with our medical conditions?
Is Fabien a member of this group or is it a company?
Thanks again, Carol
Hi Jane. Thanks for your response. It seems there is quite a high charge for having a blood test - from what I can determine, it could cost around 100euros for a simple INR test - and sometimes I need that weekly depending on what my blood results are so that I can keep them in my prescribed range 
. All a bit scary. Many thanks, Carol
Hi Paul. Thanks for your reply. Unfortunately the new anti-coagulant programme isn’t compatible for me - I had that conversation with my doctor about a year ago and so it’s good old warfarin and regular INR appointments for me 
. Thanks again, Carol
Hi Carol.
I think you will be pleasantly surprised at the cost of a mutuelle here in France which is why I suggested Fabien . You can see the thread about him here.
IIRC it is against the law in France to discriminate against people with pre-existing ailments unlike the UK where you most certainly can expect to get ripped off.
We have a mutuelle arranged by Fabien and given that I have a number of ALD issues (affection de longue duree) the cost in my view is extremely reasonable for what we have selected as the level of cover required.
The reason for mentioning retirement is the issue of an S1 from DWP which usually comes with the UK State Pension meaning that heath care in France receives a contribution from HMG which will go some way towards satisfying the requirement to show to the French authorities that you meet the residency rules. We have been fiscally resident in France for 10 years now so this is less important to us as residency rules require a proven period of 5 years. How this may change after the dreaded Brexit is anyone’s guess but you stand a better chance I think if you are in place in France before the appropriate cut-off date 
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Except you can’t sign up to a mutuelle until you have a social security number and are in the health system, i.e. until you are resident. Before that your only options are to self pay the amount not covered or take out private health insurance.
Thanks for the additional info Graham. We will certainly look into the link for Fabien and a mutuelle. So pleased to have found this forum so that we can tap into your knowledge. It’s all a lot to take in. And as for installing a new fosse … Ooh la la! But that’s for another area of this great site .
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Aaah ok, thanks for that update Jane. So a mutuelle is not the route for us at the moment … 
.
I think @fabien covers insurance of all sorts… certainly worth asking him… just click the link … @fabien …and use the Message facility…that you will see pop-up
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That sounds high…I have 8 things tested regularly and that comes to less than 50€. The prices are all regulated, so each blood test has a coefficient and the base cost of around 27 centimes is multiplied by that coefficient. So prothombine is B40 I think, so that would make it around 12 euros, of which you would get 70% reimbursed. Plus of course the cost of nurse and doctor as I said before, both reimbursed 70%.
Look up a laboratory near to where you will be and you can get an estimate from them, like here…
http://www.tourainebiolys.fr/espace-patients-amboise/prix-des-analyses
Thanks Stella. Will certainly check Fabien out
Hi Jane. That sounds much more reasonable. Will definitely be checking this out.
I presume that you intend to remain U.K. residents and have the French house as a holiday home. If so applying for a Carte Vitale and a mutuelle is irrelevant to you. If you intend spending up to 3 months in France at a time your UK doctor will probably provide you with sufficient medication for your stay and you will be able to pay for your blood tests in a clinic close to your holiday home. Your NHS sourced EHIC card will cover most of the costs but you might want to take out a travel insurance as well.
If you are intending to spend the majority of your time in France you will need to enter thecFrench health system, apply for a Carte Vitale and take out a top up mutuelle.
Have you ever found anyone who will accept an EHIC in lieu of payment? In the years before I moved over permanently and was only in France a few months a year I did have occasional need for medical services. Never once did anyone accept the EHIC. Most times they weren’t even interested in looking at it. Perfectly happy to treat me, but expected to be paid and then up to me if I claimed it back or not…
I thought you were supposed to keep receipts and send them to the CPAM in France for reimbursement.
Yes, and that’s what I did if more than a few euros…but the EHIC itself was not required in any way.
I thought they had to go to the DWP for reimbursement…
Not since 2014 I believe
Hmmmm so a holiday visitor to France using a EHIC gets paid by CPAM?
Don’t see how that works to be frank.