Healthy options
While we're waiting for the detail of Brexit there's no need to put your move to France on hold for healthcare reasons.
An EHIC card covers you currently for the first 3 months of living in France.
After that time you become become officially resident (and need to apply for carte de séjour/new residents card)
As a non EU citizen, make sure that you have sufficient insurance to cover you for the first 3 months.
Expat retirees who have a state pension from another EU state have cover through the S1 form.
Once in France you will need to have healthcare insurance and there are 2 possibilities for this:
For self-employed:
- Pay cotisations through your work to cover you for the French Carte Vitale system. If these amount to less than (approx) €4000 a year then you may have to pay a PUMa cotisation (Protection Universelle Maladie)
Inactive early retirees:
- Private health insurance
- PUMa cover - this is the state health cover and involves payment of 8% of income over a certain ceiling (€9993 in 2018).
It is important therefore to calculate whether PUMa is more advantageous than an annual private insurance policy.
If you are of normal retirement age:
- If someone is in receipt of a state pension then they should currently get their health cover through the S1 form. This would provide the 70% of the usual reimbursement which could then be topped up with a mutuelle.
The S1 form should be taken to CPAM who will organise the carte vitale.
