Retirement France - Health System & Dependants

Health Care & Carte Vitale
41

Thanks for that post.
I would just add that self insuring is not very sensible in my view. There was an earlier topic where this was discussed in quite a lot of detail.
The problem that occurs to me, to which @Shiba allures, is what happens when your self insurance net egg is all but spent on one incident and another follows toot sweet…
Of course health insurance is expensive - so is car insurance when you measure it against a clean accident record in 40 years of driving but, my word, you’ll be glad of it if the worst were to happen…

EDIT: found the topic if you want to review it:

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42

The French health system seems complex, and arbitrary at times, but is quite fair.

Every medical act has a price attached to it, and a percentage that will be reimbursed by social security (or dealt with automatically without you paying upfront).

The percentage varies from 0% - 100%. So it very much depends on what sort of thing you are seeking medical care for as to whether you end up paying very little, or rather a lot.

My drug bill is €1200 a month. Were I not on an ALD I would be having to pay 30% of that, ie €360 each month. So a mutuelle that costs €120 a month would be a great deal!

If you are broadly healthy, and rarely visit the doctors, and don’t have glasses or bad teeth, then you are not going to get much back from a mutuelle.

However we have hospital cover because that is where the bigs bills can stack up. The daily fee is €20, but that’s just the bed. As you have probably realised everything here is itemised so you pay for every bandage, injection, etc. And many hospital surgeons and anaesthetists especially in clinics are secteur 2, so they can charge more than the social security amount.

I looked into the costs of an aortic valve replacement, which is what I might have to have one day. And it was around €25,000 going to a proper surgeon. So having to pay €8-10,000 is no joke.

A knee replacement is about €3000, so the part to be covered would be a more reasonable €1,000. But there would also be about €20 a time for physio, and one can need 20 sessions…

However to go back to the original point, no matter what you will be entitled to you carte vitale. But with potential pensions from 3 countries that could be complicated working out which country will be your competent state.

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43

Presumably someone who was non-resident in France? So not really the same situation.

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44

not so… her oh thought health insurance wasn’t necessary… as do so many
what a mistake that can turn out to be.

I can get free care in UK but prefer to live in France and pay for mutuelle

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45

Be glad we don’t have US type medical bills or vet bills for that matter. My SIL was knocked off his new motorbike by a driver on a mobile phone. He can’t remember much but woke up in an ambulance going ten mins from the accident to thehospital - cost $4000. Two sutures and various prodding and poking and about four hours in hospital - $40,000. Various medications for pain,cuts etc - $2000. Luckily he has work insurance which pays half of costs but still had to find the rest himself. Same with their cat who got kidney stones and needed an op earlier this summer. That cost $8000 plus and no insurance either so credit cards had to be used.

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46

pffff I would have done the restaurant equivalent of being made to do the dishes and make the cat to do some free rat catching to pay off the bill :slightly_smiling_face:

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47

i’m laughing with you, yet i know friends who pay enormous vet’s bills for their pets…

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48

Hello all
I have been reading the thoughts on this forum for quite some years and wonder if the following figures would change your opinion. After a stroke it convinced me I was well advised many years ago.
1 IN FRANCE you pay €20 pr day for food not the size of the room .
2 Even on 100% medical treatment you have to pay for food. So in my case 23 day in hospital 100% paid €460.
3 114 days rehabilitation on 100% medical, food @ €20 pr day is € 2280.

49

Forgot to mention the 114 days rehabilitation at 100% COST the UK tax payer via S1 and CV €40,000 plus plus. for10 hrs treatment per week, no treatment Saturdays an Sundays.

50

it cost £4,000 to get a Brit back yo uk

How did they travel? Who organized the package?

51

Arghh we are definitely off on the famous tangent now. Pets & Rats!!!

Someone out there must have retired from the gite business or whatever and gone on to be a pensioner in the French system.

What happened to them in the real world? Still got their Carte Vitale?

What happened to their dependants previously covered?

52

I thought that point had already been answered further up the topic…

53

Not clearly enough and it would still be useful if anyone could say what ‘actually’ has happened to them with a real life account. Everyone seems to tell stories of their accidents and health problems very easily so why not more relative to my original query?

54

I just wonder if you are thinking that the daily charge for occupying a bed and being fed, includes medical treatment. It doesn’t. Medical treatment is not free at the point of delivery in France as it is in the UK, every intervention has a cost attached.
Then you need to establish how much of that cost will be met by the state which is set out in the social security legislation (broadly speaking up to 70% if you have a carte vitale, or 100% in the case of a recorded ALD or full CSS or some “emergency” treatment ie to save your life), and how much will be met by your mutuelle which depends which policy you chose and will be set out in that policy. Whatever is left, is for you to pay out of your own pocket.
Not sure what you mean by a “standard accident”, I have never thought about there being standard and non standard accidents, but it might also be an operation for say gall stones, investigation and assessment after an unexplained collapse, any number of things that would not be classed as emergencies but you would not want to live with them for long,
Apologies if this comment is not necessary but the thread has become very confusing, to me at least.

55

I talk of what I know to be true. I am not in your situation as never actually employed in France… however, the change from originally non-working for a few years, to retired … happened painlessly with no hiccups re CV or mutuelle.

Of course I had to discuss with CPAM (which I think has already been suggested to you some time ago… )

CPAM can help you… but you do need to contact them.

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56

what is it you want to know ???

57

Further up the thread I gave you a link which explains retirement health costs for an AE. Your complication is three countries potentially vying for your custom!

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58

My wife was an AE. When she closed the business on retirement, her CV (as did mine) continued on regardless without any problems whatsoever. Does that help clarify?

59

In my experience it is best to consult a professional regarding all the complexities if you are at all concerned about the complexities or the costs.

60

I have French friends who had AE’s and have now retired, and life has continued in a tranquil manner. Their health cover (as evidenced by their CVs) continued, and after the normal bureaucracy their pensions were paid into their accounts.

Your complication is your contributions to different social security systems in different countries. And until you find out exactly what the entitlement is from each country there’s no way for anyone to be specific about the process for you. It will either be the country you last worked in, or the country where you have paid most contributions - but that varies by situation.

I suggest you book an appointment with France Services and take a summary of your situation, with trimestres or equivalent paid in each country and ask them… They may be able to unpick it for you.