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HEALTH

How to get a carte vitale in France and why you need one

Applying for the health card carte vitale will get you free or discounted healthcare, but it will also make sure you are in the French social security system.

How to get a carte vitale in France and why you need one
The carte vitale grants you a refund on the cost of healthcare. Photo: AFP

The carte vitale is the national French health insurance card that allows those who have one to have most or all of their health costs either covered or reimbursed by the state.

The cards work mainly as a reimbursement system – when you have a doctor’s appointment or are prescribed medication, you pay upfront to the doctor or pharmacist.

They then swipe your carte vitale and the government reimburses some or all of the cost directly back into your bank account.

How much of the cost is reimbursed by the state depends on the treatment or action taken by the doctor, the type of doctor you see and your personal circumstances.

So for example cancer treatments are reimbursed at 100 percent, while a dermatology treatment or cosmetic dentistry procedure would be reimbursed at a lower percentage. 

Some groups, such as war veterans and pregnant women, are entitled to a higher rate of reimbursement. 

A standard appointment with your GP or primary care doctor comes with a set fee of €25, and is reimbursed at 70 percent (so €17.50). 

Most people have top up health insurance – known as a mutuelle – to cover the difference (or most of it) between what the state pays via the carte vitale and the total fee.

Who can get a carte vitale?

Anyone who has been legally resident in France for more than three months is entitled to the carte vitale and it is not means tested.

So how to go about it?

Like most things in France, it involves a lot of paperwork, but the system itself is relatively simple.

The French health insurance site Ameli

First you need to get an application form – these are available to download from the French health insurance site – www.ameli.fr.

The form itself is fairly straightforward and just asks for personal details like name, age and address. 

It does include a box for a social security number, which you will not have yet – just ignore that. The same form is also used for people who already have a carte vitale but need to change their details.

You will then have to return the form by post to your local CPAM office (find out yours here) accompanied by various documents. You will need:

A photocopy of your passport

A photocopy of your visa or carte de sejour if you are required to have one (not required for EU/EEA or Swiss citizens).

Your birth certificate. This cannot be a copy but must be the original. It must be the full certificate including parents’ names (not the shorter certificate that most British people born before 1983 will have) and if it is not in French you will need to include a certified translation of it.

Your bank details – the relevé d’identite bancaire (RIB) that you are given by your bank. 

If you are working you will need proof of your employment – either a copy of your contract or a pay slip.

If you are not working but are already in the system – for example as a jobseeker or asylum seeker – you will need to send copies of all the paperwork pertaining to your status.

If you are not working and are not already in the system you will need to send proof that you have been a resident in France for three months, documents accepted include rental contracts, utility bills, phone bills (but only for a fixed line, not a mobile) and, if you are studying, a certificate of study.

If you have children under the age of 18 living with you then you will need to include form S3705 – the Demande de rattachement des enfants mineurs à l’un ou aux deux parents assurés (application for the attachment of minor children to a parent’s health insurance). This form is also available to download from the www.ameli.fr site. 

Once you have filled in the form and sent off the paperwork you should – if all the papers are correct – get a temporary number.

You then receive a permanent social security number. Once you get your permanent number, you will then get a second form to fill out and send back, together with a passport photo, and then you will be sent out the card.

The final thing to do is to choose a registered GP and fill out a form (declaration de choix du médecin traitant) that formally declares them as your chosen doctor.

READ ALSO How to register with a doctor in France

How long does it take?

The time it takes to get the card varies quite widely – some people report getting theirs within a couple of weeks, others say it took almost a year. It seems that six months is around average, although there are regional variations.

While you are waiting for your card, you can still access healthcare in France.

You pay upfront and then ask the doctor or pharmacist for a feuille de soins – this is essentially a type of receipt that you fill out and, once you have the card, you can claim back any medical costs that you incurred during the waiting period.

While the whole process can be a lengthy one there are several bits of good news.

Firstly the Ameli site has an English section which explains the requirements for different classifications – retired, employed, self employed.

If you’re still stuck there is an English language helpline, which is open from 8.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Friday. Call 0 811 36 36 46 or 09 74 75 36 46 from France or 0033 811 36 36 46 from outside France.

Once you have a social security number you can set up an account on the Ameli site which you can use to track payments and make other changes, for example if you move house and need to change your address.

Ameli: How to set up your online social security account

Finally, it’s well worth knowing about the medical website/app Doctolib, which will make booking appointments and finding English speaking doctors a lot easier – full details here.

French vocab

L’assurance maladie – health insurance

Numéro de sécurité sociale – social security number

Médicin traitant – Your registered doctor

Member comments

  1. This is a very useful item – really clear, setting out the terms of the CV. There is so much rumour and misleading data about the role of the “Mutuelle” out there on other sites. We have submitted our first application for the CV, so now can wait – with relief – that the rest will follow smoothly!

  2. Yes, but don’t you also need to obtain a S1 form from the UK if you’re receiving state pension, or, a refusal
    of S1 letter if you’re not receiving it?

  3. I’ve been fighting for a carte vitale for four years now. I dont have a birth certificate. My now deceased parents didn’t bother to register my birth. I left home at 15 and social servo got me a NI number and passport. I’ve paid in NI and taxes all my life. I now own a business and home in France and pay my taxes and have a residency card. All this without a birth certificate but CPAM have not accepted decades of passports and tax docs,
    Does anyone have any idea how I can get my carte vitale or who I have to talk to? CPAM asked my deceased parents to confirm this but as yet they haven’t replied 🙂

  4. Very helpful article. Can someone clarify need to send “original birth certificate” referenced above? Original BC is long gone but I can get an official record of my birth from the state government from where I was born. If this sufficient?

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LIVING IN FRANCE

5 tips to have the best possible night at France’s Fête de la musique

It can be the most fun day of the year - when France goes music crazy and bands suddenly appear on every street corner - but there are some tips to make your Fête de la musique experience as good as it can possibly be.

5 tips to have the best possible night at France's Fête de la musique

First, a caveat – this is an entirely personal manifesto based on the things that I have enjoyed over my Fête de la Musique outings over the years. It’s not intended as any kind of hard-and-fast rule and plenty of people will have different experiences.

Feel free to disagree and/or share your festival tips in the comments section below!

1 Ignore the big-name artists

There are always a few big-name artists or concerts in major venues on the Fête de la musique (which happens every year on June 21st).

Ignore them. Sure, stadiums gigs can be great and huge venues can have a wonderful atmosphere – but you can do that any night of the year. It’s not what Fête de la musique is about.

The true spirit of the Fête is the smaller acts who play on street corners, in bars and community venues. They’re free, you can wander between them and stay as long as you like – and there is always something else around the corner.

2 Ignore the big towns

You might think that the big cities have the best music, but if you have the choice, go for a small town or a suburb.

I’ve enjoyed some good Fêtes in Paris, but the best experiences had have been smaller towns or the Paris’ suburbs (Montreuil is good – a commune that carefully cultivates a small-town / village vibe, albeit a very diverse small town where everyone is a hippy, a leftist, or both).

It’s partly a practicality thing – in big cities the acts are spread out and you have to make plans to see something and meet up with friends. In small towns, you just wander along to the main square, then when you’ve seen the acts there, you can saunter up the side streets, each of which will have dozens of bands playing, pausing only to grab a beer and snacks.

But it’s also the vibe; in big cities you can hear good live music all the time and the population is consequently complacent – small towns truly appreciate the Fête de la musique and properly go wild.

Once, in Paris, I was watching a blues band play in the street when a woman tipped water on their heads from her apartment window because she was tired and wanted to go to sleep. Small towns appreciate it when bands play for them.

3 Experiment

There’s a lot of variety on the night, so take advantage – this is your opportunity to hear all kinds of live music from rock to swing, jazz to classical, choirs to DJs.

Didn’t think that a five-piece oud band is your thing? Fête de la musique may change your mind. It’s the night of the year when anything goes, musically, so it’s also the night to try something new.

If you hate it – well it’s free and there’s another band down the street that might be more your thing. But you might discover a lifetime passion for oud music – in fact, by this time next year you might be playing in the oud band. Thanks to the Fête de la musique.

4 Don’t insist on quality

You’ll hear some great bands, but you’ll also hear some that are more about enthusiasm – and that’s all part of the fun.

You’re going to be hearing everything from classic rock to reggae to blues to the above-mentioned five-piece oud band, and as well as the styles the quality may be variable to.

For me, the true spirit of Fête de la musique is the 50-year-old accountant rocking out on his guitar and enjoying the one night of the year when he can dream that if only he hadn’t given up on his high school band, he could now be rich, famous and selling out stadiums, as opposed to filing tax declarations in an office above the florist.

5 Dress comfortably

Some people like to dress up for the Fête and that’s great – it’s a party after all – but the key thing is to wear something that is comfortable and allows you to shake your stuff.

Yes, you will be dancing – you’ll be dancing on street corners, in parks, cafés and perhaps on street furniture if things really get going, and you’ll be dancing with kids, dapper 70-year-old gents and everyone in between.

You need comfortable shoes and clothes that you can really move in.

Dance like no-one is watching. They may be watching, but they won’t be judging. Much. It’s Fête de la musique.

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