Health cover & health insurance

[chrisandlyn73]

Hallo, we are UK citizens but have lived in several European countries including Germany, our current residence, for the last 25 years. We have one year to go before we reach pension age but have decided to stop working and move to France. We've rented a house for a few months to give us time to look for property. I'm sure we're not unique in being without a place of residence (within the next few weeks).
Does anyone have advice about what health cover we might have in France and which mutuelle may be best for our situation. I don't think we're entitled to EHIC cover since we don't have a UK residence.
Thanks in advance.

[parsnips]

Originally Posted by chrisandlyn73

Hallo, we are UK citizens but have lived in several European countries including Germany, our current residence, for the last 25 years. We have one year to go before we reach pension age but have decided to stop working and move to France. We've rented a house for a few months to give us time to look for property. I'm sure we're not unique in being without a place of residence (within the next few weeks).
Does anyone have advice about what health cover we might have in France and which mutuelle may be best for our situation. I don't think we're entitled to EHIC cover since we don't have a UK residence.
Thanks in advance.

Hi,
If you have been working and paying social security in Germany , I believe you should be entitled to a form S1 which will give you health cover for a limited period, or a german EHIC equivalent; contact the social security organisation to which you make your payments.
If you are not entitled , you will need full private health insurance till you qualify for the UK state pension (if you have been contributing to it).

[Bevdeforges]

This page from the Europa website might help: EU - Health coverage when settling abroad – Your Europe

If you're covered for national health care in the EU country in which you are living (i.e. Germany), you should be able to get some sort of document to confirm this. You take the document to the French CPAM (now called Améli) and arrange for the interim cover (usually up to two years, I think it is, if you've been contributing to the health care system where you've been living).

The French health care coverage is a reimbursement system (i.e. you pay for the doctor and treatment and tests and then you're reimbursed directly into your bank account) and only reimburses about 70% of the amount you paid out. To be reimbursed for the rest, you need a "mutuelle." Almost any insurance agent can offer a mutuelle, as can your bank in France in most instances.

If you have been covered by private insurance in Germany, you may need to provide private coverage when you get to France. But check first with your Kasse in Germany to see if they can provide the necessary proof of coverage.
Cheers,
Bev