macgyver

I've done a lot of searching but can't seem to find a definitive answer, so just wondering if some of the more experienced people might know.

The deed is almost done (it's been dragging on but big businesses never seem to work quickly...), so I'll be relocating to Lyon in June/July.

I will be getting a social security number, hence a Carte Vitale, and health insurance from work. I've asked the French HR several times about whether or not my insurance/CV will cover my wife, but cannot seem to get a straight answer, just that "She will be covered, no problem". No definitive "Yes she can use your health insurance/CV". I won't get to look at the health insurance policy until I've signed the contract (either this week or next) which seems the wrong way round to me but there you go.

My wife will not be working in France initially - she will register with the French social security system and start to look for work once her French is better. However, to maintain a salary, she will be working and paying tax in the UK - she will do a fortnights work every two-three months in the UK, is registered self employed in the UK, and will maintain the (minimum) NI contributions necessary for her pension and so on.

So, would she be eligible for payment by the NHS for treatment in France, perhaps under this UK E106 I've read about recently?

The biggest concern for us is costs concerning having a baby. It might not happen for a while, but I think we've both accepted that we want it to happen fairly soon (we're getting on a bit!), and whilst things like the EHIC will cover us for emergencies for a certain period of time, we obviously need to ensure we can get our costs covered somewhere.

EuroTrash

I started writing a reply, but it got so long and I still hadn't covered half of it and you haven't given enough info in any case.

If your wife is working she is not your dependent and it would be wrong to claim that she is. Therefore she cannot be put on your carte vitale. Therefore, initially you will each have separate healthcare arrangements.

If your wife will be living in France and working in the UK, the UK will remain her competent state and she should ring Newcastle and have a chat with them.

Couldn't figure out from your post if you're working for a French company or if you are being seconded by a UK company. Which your competent state will be, depends on the answer to that.

Forget about EHICs, EHICs are for holidaymakers not for residents.

When your wife stops work, that will be a "change in circumstances", she will become your dependent and the healthcare arrangements will change to reflect that.

Please try to chill out and cross bridges when you come to them, otherwise dealing with French bureaucracy is going to be seriously bad for your blood pressure. As long as you stick to the rules, give the correct facts to the authorities and don't panic and start telling them how you think they should be doing their jobs, the system works. There is enough EU and French legislation to protect people. It's only when people try to be clever go against the flow and manipulate things, that things get out of kilter.

Hope this helps.

PS I just re-read your post and you talk about 'looking at the health insurance policy', so maybe your work contract includes private health insurance. If that's the case, ignore everything I said because I was talking about state healthcare. A carte vitale is for state healthcare. Or possibly you mean that your company is providing top-up/mutuelle cover?

macgyver

Sorry yes it's a mutuelle policy on top of the Carte Vitale.

I will be working for an international company, but on a French contract from the French HR, so for all intents and purposes a French company?

Appreciate the reply, I'm fairly relaxed about it all (as relaxed as one can be I suppose) but I'm "getting it in the neck" about this particular issue so to speak .

In the instance where my wife is not working - can I then automatically (and presumably with a lot of paper work!) put her on my CV?

And by Newcastle do you mean Tyneview park?

EuroTrash

If you're on a French contract, yes to all intents and purposes a French company. Your company will be paying into the French Sécu system for you. You'll get a social security number and an attestation of health cover from CPAM, and eventually you will get your carte vitale. Sometimes you have to be patient for that. But the attestation is the main thing.

The mutuelle should cover both you and your wife, because under the French healthcare system only around 70 per cent is covered by the state. This applies to everyone who gets medical treatment in France so both you and your wife need top up. Your company will understand this, they know how it works and they know perfectly well what people require. It's a perk, not many companies offer this, so if they are offering a perk one assumes they are well intentioned and will see you and your family right.

Newcastle, well I forget what they call themselves but yes, the place that deals with NICs etc. This is the form your wife will need to fill in
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/forms/ca8454.pdf

When she stops working, she'll need to tell HMRC and get a letter from Newcastle to state that they are no longer covering her healthcare and the date on which cover ceased. CPAM will need this confirmation. Then they'll pick up from the date her cover in the UK ceases. It may be that the UK continues to cover her through the 'maternity pay' period, I don't know how it works.

The main thing is to keep on top of it, contact the relevant authorities each time your circumstances change and ask them what needs to be done, so that the correct forms get issued and processed and everything is kept up to date. That way you don't risk somebody suddenly spotting that you're no longer eligible for the scheme because your circumstances changed six months ago and you no longer meet the criteria, and turning down a request for a reimbursement.

macgyver

Thanks for that, super helpful information. I do wonder why an Enterprise organisation with 10k+ employees worldwide can't provide a similar level of help..your time is very much appreciated!

EuroTrash

No worries, I'll pm you the invoice
only joking
it's what forums are for. Stick around and in a few years time you'll be able to repay the service by helping out another newbie who's fretting over the same question.

TinaBee

If your wife is not working you would simply need to complete a form called "ayant droit" which declares your wife as a dependent on your healthcare cover

http://www.ameli.fr/fileadmin/user_u...ires/S3182.pdf

EuroTrash

I thought that for expats, CPAM routinely asked where your healthcare came from previously, and if via an S1 checked that you were no longer eligible? Having said that, different CPAMs seem to have their own rules.

TinaBee

You are right. However, if the OP's wife is no longer working, nor has eligibility for an S1 from the UK, he can obtain cover for her using this form.

The situation is more complicated at the moment because the UK has not yet decided whether to continue issuing the residual S1 form for people with enough NI contributions.

EuroTrash

But he says she is going to keep working self employed in the UK at first, going back for a fortnight or so a month. He can't claim she's an ayant droit if in fact she's self employed in the UK, so she needs to get a workers S1 for as long as she's doing that.

When they start a family and she stops work, would her S1 stop straight away or would the S1 cover her through maternity? I don't know how maternity leave works if you're self employed.

TinaBee

I was just responding on the hypothetical situation he posed where she stops working completely when they move to France and does not have an S1 form. There are a lot of variables in the OP's situation.