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Medical card

3K views 13 replies 5 participants last post by  schrader.bouchayer 
#1 ·
:confused:CAN ANYONE HELP ME PLEASE I AM UNDER A DOCTOR HERE IN FRANCE, AND EACH TIME I VISIT HE ASKS ME IF I HAVE A GREEN CARD, WHEN I ANSWER NO HE CHARGES ME 23EURO. BECAUSE MY FRENCH IS PRETTY POOR I AM TO EMBARRESSED TO ASK HIM HOW I APPLY FOR THIS. IF ANYONE CAN TELL ME THE ROUTE TO TAKE I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL.
 
#2 ·
The green card is the "carte vitale" - the French social security card used for the health care system. If you or your husband is working and covered by the French sécu system, you should have a card. Use your own card if you have one, or your husband's card if he is the breadwinner (but make sure he has declared you on his card).

Even with a carte vitale, the doctor will charge you the 23 euros. If you have the card, he sticks it in his card reader, which reports your visit to the secu so that they can reimburse you their portion (I think it's something like 75% less 1 euro). If you have a mutuelle, the sécu passes your claim on to the mutuelle and they reimburse you the rest.
Cheers,
Bev
 
#5 ·
Carte Sejour and recommended health insurance

I am from the US and have obtained a carte sejour for one year. In regards to health insurance, what is your recommendation, advantages and disadvantages...is Bupa Insur. the best, especially if you travel the EU a bit? How about the requisites to get into the French Health Care System or is it just a bit too premature?
Thanks for your help
 
#3 ·
Hi!

Also ( to what has not already been written ) if you ave worked in GB, and can bring a E106 - only valid for 2 years after you have stopped work ( ask Newcastle ) or your are on pension ( you can bring an E121 ), you can have free cover ( i.e. a Carte Vitale ) in France for what is called the CMU ( Couverture Maladie Universelle) which will over according to the case up to 70% of the basic costs ( not what you pay - it is more complicated ).

Normally most people have a private top up, or a minimum a hospital top up, because you can be confronted with costs you have to pay yourself up to € 1600/day in limited cases.

Yours,

giantpanda
 
#11 ·
Ooooh, if your carte de séjour says "visiteur" you may have difficulty getting that changed at renewal time. (And honestly, that could be the reason you didn't have to sign a "contrat d'accueil et d'integration" - because by definition, the "visiteur" carte isn't really expected to be renewed.)

However, your local préfecture sounds more "user friendly" than most. You may want to ask them (hypothetically, of course ;)) how you would go about changing your status "should" you be offered a job. This IS France, after all - and nothing is impossible. You just have to be very careful how and who you ask, and be very sure to explain this is "just" hypothetical. If they tell you at the préfecture that it can't be done, you're going to have to consider going back to the US to get the visa (but there may be some way around that - probably through your potential employer). ("Impossible n'est pas un mot français" attributed to Jules Verne last I knew, but for all I know, it could have been De Gaulle.)

The usual pattern is that you renew your card for one year at a time for a while (and I think it is supposed to be that you renew it under the same terms - if you get a card with work privileges, the counter goes back to the beginning) until the local préfecture decides to "offer" you a 5 year card. Then normally at the end of that one, you get a 10 year "carte de residente" which means you've arrived. I've heard different terms applied to different situations, but I'm not sure whether it varies by type of carte de séjour or by préfecture.

As far as the Schengen stuff goes, a "Schengen visa" is a 90 day tourist visa that allows you to spend 90 days within the Schengen area. (Americans don't need a visa for visits of up to 90 days, but the principle of letting them in without a visa is the same as for the Schengen visa.)

With a long-stay visa for any of the Schengen countries (which is what you've got), you can make visits to any other Schengen country - in practice, to any EU country - as long as you maintain your residence in France. If you want to move to a Schengen country, you have to get the appropriate residence visa. The fact of having a French carte de séjour does nothing for you outside of France. There is no such thing as a "long-stay" Schengen visa - it's only the 90 day visitor visa and you have NO working privileges.
Cheers,
Bev
 
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