France Medical Insurance News
France is renowned for providing its citizens with one of the most stable and available social systems in the world. Every year the French government contributes a significant amount of the nation's GDP towards creating ever more innovative social services and progressive social reforms. One area where this is readily apparent is with the French healthcare system, which receives approximately 9.8% of the country's total GDP annually.
The French public funds the country's social services and healthcare systems, and on average contributes approximately 20% of their annual salary towards keeping these services in place. This contribution towards social stability is known in France as Securite sociale. This system ensures that every legal resident of France can receive high quality, inexpensive healthcare. This does not mean to say that the healthcare services that French citizens receive are free, but rather they are more affordable than similar, high quality treatments offered in other countries.
If a person receives healthcare or medical treatment in France, no matter whether their treatment is obtained in a private or public medical facility, they are typically reimbursed up to 70% of the total bill by the government within 10 days of having received the treatment in question. This Securite sociale is extremely complex and covers more aspects of French society than just the Healthcare system. The Securite sociale system covers everyone in France who has "employee" status as well as those individual's spouses and children.
Since 2006 the French healthcare system grew outside of the pure Securite sociale coverage and introduced the CMU (couverture maladie universelle) which in essence covers all individuals on a universal basis for illness and injury. CMU coverage is obtainable by anyone with legal residential status in France who has had 3 uninterrupted months of living in the country. Essentially anyone who is not covered by Securite sociale is covered by CMU.
This does not mean that foreign nationals in France can obtain CMU coverage as soon as they arrive in the country. One of the key aspects of foreign nationals obtaining a French resident permit is the ability to provide proof of medical insurance that will cover, partially or in total, any potential medical expenses that they may have. Even if a foreign national is not applying for a French resident permit it is a typical requirement for medical coverage of some form if they are planning on residing in the country for any period longer than 1 month.
The reason for this is that while the French medical system is structured in a way that makes it affordable to French nationals, it is by no means cheap. Foreign nationals who have received healthcare in France who do not have France expat health insurance typically have an extremely hard time affording the high quality treatments that they have received. In a bid to stop foreigners receiving what amounted to "free" treatment, the French government made it mandatory for people of specific nationalities to have some form of healthcare coverage that would protect them for up to a specific sum.
There are problems inherent in the French Medical system. Critics site the service as "wasteful" claiming that individuals who have access to an almost free form of medical treatment tend to abuse this privilege. Because of the levels of expense and reimbursement the French Healthcare system is among the most costly in the world. This has come about as the French government tries to recoup some of the losses that it has experienced in providing a top notch public healthcare service. Analysts predict that the healthcare and medical service in France could be in debt almost 70 billion Euros by the end of 2020, and it is this prediction that has lead to medical costs rising dramatically in the private sector and a crisis across the healthcare system as a whole.
The only way to truly protect yourself, anywhere in the world, from high healthcare and medical treatment costs is with an international health insurance plan. We can offer policies that are globally portable and guaranteed renewable for life. This means that even if you should relocate away from France you will continue to receive the high quality coverage that you deserve. For more information about the products and services that we can offer, French expat health insurance plans, or to receive a free quote, please contact us today.
For more information about France expat health insurance, the international health insurance plans that we can offer in France, or to receive a free quote, please contact one of our expert advisers today.
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