An ongoing row which has seen France deny access to healthcare to expats who have retired to the country may soon be resolved.
The European Commission has investigating complaints from British expats and plans to reveal the findings shortly.
Problems began in 2007, when French authorities decided that expats from fellow EU member states could only gain access to healthcare if they had lived in the country for more than five years or were over the country’s official retirement age.
For those expats who have retired to France under that age, this has led to a muddle over health cover.
Most have had to buy private health insurance, while those with long-term conditions have been denied insurance cover.
Cure for healthcare ills
For those who did buy insurance cover, policies were generally only valid for two years if bought in their country of origin and then they had to switch to French cover.
There are issues too with a clarification issued by the French government to local healthcare providers in 2011 which was meant to clearly define who was entitled to healthcare.
However, this led to an increasingly confused situation, with some regions allowing early expat retirees to receive healthcare after living in the country for three months, while others stipulate the five-year residence rule.
The commission spokesman for employment, social affairs and inclusion, Jonathan Todd, said that the French government had acknowledged that there were problems for nationals from other EU member countries accessing healthcare in France.
He added: “France has told the commission that they are putting in place the necessary solutions to prevent future problems occurring.”
Expat complaints
However, Mr Todd also warned that the commission was still considering implementing infringement procedures against France, but said there were other avenues for compliance to be met first.
One of the biggest objections being raised by expat retirees is that the French are effectively breaching the EU’s own free movement rules which allow people to live and work in another country.
Healthcare provision in France is slightly different to that in the UK and consists of different funds that people have to join – for instance, doctors join a different fund to that of agricultural workers.
Expats sign up with the CMU (Couverture maladie universelle) which is affiliated to the Régime Général and provides the necessary national health insurance and does not exclude applicants with pre-existing conditions.
Before rushing to get state health Insurance cover, other French expats might like to find out what the tax implications might be. If you are not subject to any obligatory French state health insurance, I believe that your income/pension is not subject to the swingeing ‘social contributions’ that are otherwise payable. This is definitely the case for expat UK state pensioners, who can receive standard French health cover, but which is paid for by the UK government. The crucial text is clause L136-1 of the French Social Security Code. {Disclaimer: I’m no expert, and readers need to check on their individual situations.}