NickB62

Interesting - perhaps French Intelligence have been reading our posts regarding French bureaucracy?!

The following article has been sourced from 'Your French Matters':


'PUMA –Protection Universelle Maladie

Replacing the CPAM as from 1st January 2016


CPAM - Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie.
On 1st January 2016, a new social system has come into play in France to replace the CPAM , known as PUMA (protection Universelle Maladie )

This reform guarantees that everyone who works or lives permanently in France has a right to regular health care and cover throughout the time they are permanently resident in France.The purpose of this reform being to simplify the health care process in France , to ensure continued health cover and reduce the administrative paperwork we have all experienced thus far.

This reform is an update of the CMU which was started in 1999 aimed to give health insurance rights to persons residing in France on a stable and regular basis, and who were not covered by any other Compulsory health scheme. This reform disposes of the strict fulfillment of administrative conditions to warrant the CMU insurance cover - example, if you were employed, you had to justify having worked enough to access your rights ; If you were unemployed or retired, you had to prove your income, residence status and pension rights etc., and renew your cover annually, providing all the same details, justifications and complete the forms again each year.From 1st January 2016, with the introduction of PUMA, anyone who works or resides in France in a stable and regular manner has the right to health care and cover of costs to a certain degree. As a result, the qualifying conditions are simplified. Employees no longer have to demonstrate a minimum activity, the fact that they work is enough.
.
For persons without a professional activity, they benefit from the support of health cover and costs simply by having a stable and regular residence in France.

Carte VitaleTO RECAP:

The simplification and continuity of rights for the insured, no disruption in health cover.
Each person has their own health cover – there are no dependants EXCEPT for minors.
Each person has their own registration, called an Ameli account and receives their own statements of reimbursement for health cover – this will help in situations of divorce and separation etc.
For More information contact Ameli on the English Speaking line

ameli.fr - English speakers : your special Advice Line

Phone from France 3646

Phone from abroad +33 811 70 36 46'.













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dmu

Hi, this was mentioned in the "Healthcare" FAQ above, in #13 and #14. It's not the CPAM, but the CMU which has been replaced.
P.S. but thanks for posting it!

EuroTrash

I don't think it will actually change very much for most expats. When you arrive in France and apply for PUMa I think you will still have to prove legal residence ("stable and regular") and the criteria for that haven't changed. It will however make it seamless if you change caisse, eg if you've been working in France and then you retire, or you switch between being employed and self employed. Which will certainly be a good thing.

What I'm wondering is how it will work for ayant droits. At present, you can register as an AE and earn sixpence and get cover for yourself and your partner. Under the new system the ayant droit status no longer exists, so presumably the non-working partner will have to prove that they meet the criteria for legal residence in order to get cover in their own right. So the sixpence that the working partner is declaring won't do the trick any more. Assuming that the household does have other income the non-working spouse will probably end up paying cotisations, but what if the household income is below the threshold for legal residence? I haven't seen any reference to this yet but am waiting to see if this turns out to be a pitfall in the future

dmu

Good points. It remains to be seen how it will all work out for those concerned....

bobbi2

Couldn't quite make out how this affects dependants who are on their other halfs CV? Is someone able to clarify this please?

dmu

This is all new, but apparently dependants now apply for their own C.V. Best thing would be to ask at your CPAM and hope that the human being can answer!

bobbi2

Thanks. Have just called up to check. Yes as of 1st Jan if you NOW apply for a CV you would need to apply for your own card regardless of whether you are working or not, however if you had a CV previous to Jan 2016 it remains unchanged.

EuroTrash

I think it says on the website that anyone who is currently covered as an ayant droit has the option to stay as they are until 31.12.2019.
And who knows shape Europe will be by then