bigglesworth

Thanks for clarifying that ET.
I did say that being in another EU state gave different entitlements, but perhaps not clear enough.
It is an interesting question though.

TinaBee

Yes. OH started to receive his UK state pension 4 years ago. DWP sent 2 copies of the S1 form which were taken to the relevant CPAM office (keep a copy!). After a few weeks, the application form for the photo carte vitale arrived, was duly completed and the carte vitale arrived a few weeks later.

You will need to provide all relevant supporting documentation if it is your first registration at CPAM, i.e. birth certificate (may need to be translated), proof of address, etc. Your best bet to find out what the up-to-date requirements are, is to call into your relevant CPAM office and ask. That way you can collect all of the required documents and have translations done where needed.

Frenchie51

Hi, I can only speak on my personnel experience, but may be it will help. We retired to France in Oct 2014 . As I was 63 and my Wife 60 we were not able to benefit from free healthcare so I applied for a Carte Vitale. After 7 months of correspondence my Carte Vitale arrived It covers myself and my Wife and I pay about 2100 euros a year. This pays appox 70% of healthcare and we have insurance to cover the rest. When I reach UK retirement age the 2100 euros a year payment will end. I hope this helps.

JWL

That's interesting, thanks, but can I ask...

1. Did you have private cover while waiting for France healthcare to kick in and how much was that?
2. Did you have to have compulsory private insurance before or ASAP upon arrival in France, or was it down to free choice?

Frenchie51

Hi,when we arrived in France we had no health insurance, but although it took 7 months to obtain our Carte Vitale we were covered by the French health system from the day we first made our application. Their is a section of CPAM that deals with all UK applications, they are called "plateforme anglaise", tel no: 0811363646. They all speak English and were most helpful.

EuroTrash

Did you have an S1 though, Frenchie? If you have an S1, acceptance is automatic and you'll be given a social security number and an attestation of rights as soon as CPAM has your S1 and proof of ID. It doesn't matter whether you have a carte vitale or not, the important thing is the attestation. On the other hand, if you apply to join the health system direct via contributions, you won't be given a social security number or an attestation until your application has been considered and accepted.

Frenchie51

Hi, as we were not planning to work in France and were not of pensionable age we did not have an S1. Re joining the French health system via contributions we were covered from the day we first made our application. It just took 7 months to sort out all the paperwork and how much we would pay.

EuroTrash

That's unusual these days because as of a couple of years ago, all applications to join CMU are sent to a central office for processing. I'm surprised that a local CPAM is able to open your rights before the central office has made the decision as to whether you're eligible or not. Although assuming you're accepted, they may backdate your rights to the date you applied so you can claim back what you've already spent.

I see you posted this thread in December 2014 http://britishexpats.com/forum/franc...n-help-848890/ saying you'd been to CPAM and were waiting for news, and asking how to get medication whilst waiting for the decision. So maybe there was a short delay, or you wouldn't have been asking the question?

Frenchie51

It was only when I rang the CPAM (central office,not our local one), halfway through our application process,that I was informed that we had been covered from the date of our original application. We had to submit details of our previous years income so they could decide what they would charge us.

JWL

This surely must be the single most complicated, frustrating and unresolvable (until each individual actually gets there.) topic ever on BE. What a nightmare....

Frenchie51

Without doubt. most of the information we sent had to be sent 3 times. Every time we received a letter it was from a different person and none of them seemed to communicate with each other even though they were in the same department.

dmu

Hopefully your personal nightmare will soon be over, when "Newcastle" has replied to your letter and you'll know whether you're entitled to an S1.
If the answer is negative, then at least you're fore-warned with regard to French healthcare coverage and will be fore-armed to cope with the French nightmare when you're here

bigglesworth

Just a thought JWL. Make very sure that you are addressing the right department in Newcastle and that they are giving you the answer for YOUR circumstances and not theirs. (How you establish that it is the right department is a whole new story).

So you need to establish just who the competent department is. As I understand it, S1s for people of working age or otherwise paying a stamp are paid for by HMRC, but S1s for people who are of pensionable age or otherwise in receipt of a government "benefit" are paid for by DWP. The second you change from the first to the second, it is the DWP who are responsible for the T&Cs, no matter what HMRC may have told you.

The issue I found is that HMRC operate off a tax year and DWP off a calendar year (roughly). It cost me six months private cover. But there may be other complications.

Just make sure you have every thing in writing, and that if you are on the phone, write down who you are talking to and which department they are with. They have a universal switchboard in Newcastle and you can wind up talking to HMRC, DWP, NHS, Overseas Healthcare, or Overseas assets. There may be more. They generally assume you know who you are talking to, but often don't tell you unless asked.

JWL

Yeah, but to be honest, I won't absolutely trust what they say. Someone could be saying whatever on whatever day, and on a different day it will be something else by someone else...I see it rather as just a temporary guide to what might be (but so's betting on the 2.30 at Doncaster at 50-1..)

bigglesworth

Absolutely the right way to treat it. I have been given different information so often I always wrote it down and repeated it in the next converation. It felt like half the time I was told that the previous answer had ben wrong.
They do not deliberately misinform people. They answer the question they think you are asking, as it relates to their own fields.

To be fair, they generally deal with people in quite specific sets of circumstances. It is when they are dealing with people who sit outside that that problems arise. Especially as circumstances vary so widely, and we ourselves often have an imperfect understanding of what we are asking.