INSURANCE

Introduction

It must be emphasised that the funding of healthcare is based on a contributory system. Although there are cases where 100% of treatment is covered this is not the norm. Even with hospitalisation you could still end up with a bill for up to 20% of the costs. You will always have to pay for your food and bottled water. Private rooms are readily available but again this will always cost extra.

Complementary Insurance Policies

In view of the way health is funded in France it is not surprising that most French citizens have a complementary insurance. These are called "mutuelles' and "polices compementaires". In larger companies there will be arrangements with a provider and the premiums will be deducted automatically from salary along with all the other statutory deductions.

There are two problems for a newcomer to France when choosing the correct policy. Firstly there is a bewildering choice of product and they are marketed quite aggressively via mail shots and retail outlets and secondly the terms of the benefits may appear strange to a UK National. It would be reasonable to expect that a top up policywould simply pay the diference in the total health costs. Not as simple as that with most French policies. In these matters the French are great lovers of coefficients and percentages! So it is common for policies to say give cover for example of up to 200% or 300% of the Tarif de Convention. (An explanation of the Tarif can be found in the French Health Service section). So in the case of a Specialist charging a "depassement" the top up insurance still may not cover the costs.

Peter Owen of Expathealthdirect is a registered insurance intermediary in France. All such intermediaries should be on the ORIAS register and be allocated a registration number. This indicates the registrar is satisfied with the level of training/experience and a sufficient level of professional indemnity cover is in place. The registration has to be updated annually. You can easily check if somebody has an ORIAS number via their website (http://www.orias.fr).

Because there is such a wide choice of providers of complementary health insurance independent advice is vital but not that easy to find because most insurance brokers in France are tied agents to a single provider.

It is not obligatory to have complementary health insurance but over 90% of the population do. Expathealthdirect recommends all to have at least hospitalisation cover regardless of state of health. It is just impossible to forecast what you may have to pay out of your own pocket on admission to hospital. There are some good value plans on the market which can give peace of mind.

For more information on these policies please contact Expathealthdirect

This subject is explored in much greater detail in "Healthcare in France - A Guide for the Expatriate

Tel/Fax: 0033 4 94 85 15 50
email: enquiries@expathealthdirect.co.uk