Brando

We have been living permanently in France since November 2001. Neither my wife nor myself have had a Form E-106 or previously had a Form E-121. My wife reached the UK pension age of 60 in April 2005 at which time I was 61. After completing her pension claim form she then received 2 copies of her E-121 which stated that she was now claiming old-age pension and that the UK government would be responsible for covering her health care costs while she was living in France and until such time as the E-121 was cancelled. There was no entry at Item 5. Member of the family of the pensioner. An accompanying letter from The Pension Service in Newcastle included the following sentence:- 'If you need another Form E-121 for any other members of your family living with you, who may need Medical Benefit cover, please      ask the French authority to send us Form E-107 application for a certificate of entitlement to benefit in kind.' We took the Forms E-121 to our CPAM office. The CPAM officer knew exactly what was required. She dealt with the E-121 forms, took an E-107 form from her filing cabinet and completed this form with my details which she said would be forwarded to Newcastle. She then took away our existing Cartes Vitales which had been in my name, with my wife as dependent, giving us attestations with new numbers. She joked that my wife was now the principle card holder and I was to be her dependent. (How true in many ways!). The new Cartes Vitales were issued and received by us with a minimum delay. It would seem, therefore, that it is up to the French CPAM to make application for the UK pensioner's dependent to receive medical benefit in kind. They complete the E-107 and send it to Newcastle. In our case they were totally aware of the procedure and extremely efficient. I hope this helps others in similar situations to ourselves. Brando  

Thanks, Cooperlola, for your comments. Our friends have already done all that you recommend. They must now plan their lives around what they have been given officially. They cannot await the possible outcome of suspicion or confidence. Returning to the 5-year rule issue, if a non-French EU citizen were to be given official permanent residence status after 5 years then, I assume, he would be given the same treatment as a French citizen. Are French citizens who decide to retire before the official retirement age going to be required to purchase private medical cover? In this case I cannot see that a non-French person in similar circumstances is going to be treated differently.

You state the following: 'In individual terms then yes, I guess it will be too late, but at least you'd be allowed back into the CMU as soon as it was confirmed, instead of waiting until you've been a resident here for five years.' Can you please quote where the French Government/CMU/CPAM has accepted this 5-year rule if, indeed, there is such a rule.? We have close friends who have been permanently resident in France for 12 years and have held Cartes Vitales for well over 5 years already. He is aged 61 and his wife is 55. They have been informed by letter from CMU that they will be granted, as a special case, continuing cover until 31 March 2008 (for which they must pay a contribution) but after that date they MUST purchase private health insurance if they wish to reside permanently in France. They have appealed against this decision, providing all necessary documentation proving their residence here for 12 years. This has not been accepted by CMU who do not recognise any 5-year rule.