health cover in france

Hi,

you should give a call to our partner: https://www.expat.com/en/insurance/europe/france/

They are located in Paris

Thanks for your help Julien - I have contacted them and am awaiting a reply.

The reciprocal arrangements between EU nations is for a short term only - for example, when I retired from work in the UK to live in France I was granted 18 months cover from the UK system based on my most recent UK social security contributions.

After that private health cover is needed, but after 5 years' permanent residence we can claim residential status and claim basic health cover.

However, my wife and I both do a little English teaching - just enough to be covered by the French social security system - one of us has to work 60 hours in one month, or 120 hours in 3 months.

At the age of 65 our health cover will revert to being the responsibility of the UK.

One alternative way into the French system would be to set yourself up as an autoentrepreneur - a simple one-man business with only basic paperwork. Give some English lessons, declare your gross income quarterly online, wait for about 20% to be deducted, and you are in the system.

Or you might have some other activity you could turn to - tending people's gardens, dog-walking etc.

For this, there is no minimum requirement for hours worked - just make sure you declare income each quarter.

You can Google Autoentrepreneur for more info - but it's all in French.

And if you decide to go down this line then I suggest you start practising banging your head against a brick wall now - or drinking different types of whisky to see which one you like best. The net effect of both is a sore head, but one way there is more pleasant than the other. Simple French administration is a misnomer.

happyhere: sorry, but if you are resident in France at 65 you are entitled to the French healthcare system. If you are not resident in the UK you get no NHS care, other than by EHIC as a French resident. I think you are confusing several things. Your EHIC cover only continues for two years from leaving the UK. if you are working in France, you get your carte vitale and are covered by the French system; you need a mutuelle to pay the extra costs on top of the state paid services.
If you are in receipt of a UK state pension (65 for men 60 and increasing for women) you are covered by the French systrem. If you are under 65 and not working, you get no cover from either country.
Full details in English of all aspects of French healthcare, and EHIC, can be found here:
Total France fact sheet

Sorry this side too. If you work in France you are not automatically covered. To qualify for a Carte Vitale you have to work for 120 hours over 3 months, or 60 hours in 1 month. Alternatively you have to pay social security contributions on gross income equal to 60 * smic, or 120 * smic over 3 months.