Health Insurance Offers
Now is a good time to start shopping around for the best deals on health insurance. Even if your policies aren’t up for renewal/resiliation until the end of the year, you can still sign up today for a better deal and the agent will take care of everything else. You don’t pay in advance, but you do get to take advantage of the special offers and discounts available now, which probably won’t be available when the time comes to renew your policy.
Many companies are offering the first 2 or 3 months free of charge and better, more flexible options are now available for those needing glasses or dental work.
Special offers are currently available from:
Allianz in Ceret – 04 68 87 00 84 or for information in English – speak to Hortense on 06 43 80 73 51
Allianz / Patrick Charcos in Prades – 04 68 96 31 50 – ask for Stephanié
AXA in St Genis – speak to Christophe 04 68 89 72 75
AVIVA in Prades and Ceret – Simone in Prades on: 04 68 96 38 73 or Dimitri in Céret on: 04 68 87 04 83
Our health has surely got to be the most important thing in our lives and yet those of us who live, holiday or plan to settle in France, are not always clear on the very complex issues of financing health cover, or the enormous bills awaiting us if we are not fully covered.
The French healthcare system is constantly under reform and what is true today may not necessarily be true tomorrow. This summer, the EU Commission stated that France is breaking EU rules by making early retirees moving to France complete five years legal residence before becoming part of the French health system. Look out for a new statement from the French Ministry of Health (not published at time of writing this article) to confirm and clarify how ’inactive’ EU citizen can now be covered by the sécurité sociale. Good news – but it is still advisable, and in some cases essential, to take out a top up insurance policy (a ‘complémentaire santé’ or ‘mutuelle’).
Why do we need top up insurance?
A complémentaire santé (a mutuelle is an old fashioned way of saying the same thing) is a policy which reimburses medical costs not covered by the Social Security. Depending on the policy chosen, it will cover some or all of the remaining percentage NOT reimbursed by the state. This can be an enormous amount if you need hospital or emergency treatment as hospitalization, a private room, ambulance costs, along with dental and optical treatments, are expensive and refunded only minimally, or not at all by the Sécurité Sociale (la Sécu).
Choosing your ‘complémentaire santé’
It is worth exploring different insurers and policies in order to find the right one for you and your family. Some insurers now offer ‘made to measure’ flexible packages where you can choose to add or subtract what is more, or less relevant to you personally. For example, if you know that you have regular problems with your teeth, but your eyes are mostly fine, you might choose a higher level of reimbursement for your dental care than your optical needs or you may wish to put the emphasis on a policy which reimburses routine care such as GP or osteopathy and ‘dépassements d’honoraires’ (charges exceeding the ‘Tarif de Convention’, standard fee set by the state) but less on actual hospitalisation…..
Basically, you don’t need to pay for what you are unlikely to use, but may add on to the policy each year, if you feel it necessary.
Whatever you choose, the monthly premium is surprisingly low compared to British health insurance policies, although be aware that this does not entitle you to queue jump, or private health care – it simply pays the bills for what is already available from the French Health Service.
If you are on a very limited budget for healthcare, you can take out a top up policy for hospitalisation only, the greatest expense.
What are the conditions to take out a complémentaire santé?
Age is obviously a factor, but different insurers have different age criteria. On average, you should have no problem taking out a policy up to 85, after that it is negotiable.
Importantly, unlike English health insurance policies, there is no medical questionnaire and you can take out a ‘complémentaire santé’ in all circumstances, even if you have a pre-existing condition, without it affecting your premium.
Some rough figures
A ten day stay in hospital would cost you around 3,000 euros, excluding ‘dépassements d’honoraires’ and private room. The state would reimburse a maximum of 2,400. A good ‘complémentaire santé’ would cover the rest plus the extras.
Beware ! 100% reimbursement does not really mean 100%!
Reimbursement of 100% of the ‘tarif de convention’ (standard fee) does not mean that you will be fully reimbursed! It means that you will be ‘topped up’ to the full amount reimbursed by the securité sociale, which may only be a tiny amount. To be sure of receiving full payment for treatment that is poorly covered by the state, you should be looking at policies of kthat reimburse 150% upwards.
Check out….
….if there is an initial period during which you will not be reimbursed (some insurers do this in order to stop clients taking out insurance only when they become ill)
….if you can benefit from the ‘tiers payant’ system (payments made directly by your insurance company to the healthcare provider), meaning you do not have to pay upfront out of your own pocket.
Any basic policy should offer partial or total refund of all hospitalisation costs, primary care expenses, i.e. medical fees, tests, and drugs at the same rates as the French state healthcare system. Beware policies that may be introduced at short notice in response to new legislation, as they may not be “tried and tested”.
Do not wait until you are ill to take out top-up health insurance.
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Useful vocabulary Frais médicaux – médical expenses Je voudrais me renseigner sur les complémentaires santé Pouvez vous me passer à (m’envoyer) quelqu’un qui peut m’expliquer les garanties santé ?
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