NormanH

I am not comparing private care in France and the UK. I have never mentioned the UK, and is has no relevance to choosing a Mutuelle in France, nor to anybody living permanently here. Private health care in France is a business which exists to make a profit, and which milks off funds from the CPAM, looking for any pretext to perform money-making procedures which are just possibly necessary, in addition to the essential This gives the patient a feeling of being well looked-after, so everybody is happy. On the other hand the system cannot go on paying, hence the alarm bells The CPAM pays the treatment You or the Mutuelle  (possibly) pay any 'dépassement des horaires' As to some of the 'Frais de séjour' , these may be met by the Mutuelle depending on the terms of your contract: TARIFS AU 1ER JANVIER 2007 :     Supplément chambre particulière 51 € Forfait journalier 16 € Ces suppléments peuvent éventuellement être pris en charge par votre mutuelle. Si votre prise en charge n’est pas parvenue à la clinique le jour de votre départ, vous devrez régler ces suppléments. This is why the choice of a Mutuelle is important. A final point: it can pay to have a Mutuelle recognised by the clinic you are likely to go to, ( possibly a local one  as you then won't have to advance any money

My 'ex' worked in the summer in a Hotel as a Femme de chambre. Here is an example of  a job advert from the ANPE for this type of work (I have left out the details of the Hotel etc.) HOMME/FEMME DE MENAGE D'HOTEL H/F (Code Métier ROME 13111) DANS DES HOTELS 3 ETOILES VOUS SEREZCHARGE DES CHAMBRES ET DU MENAGE; 3 MOIS A TEMPS PLEIN PUIS 4 A 5 SEM-AINES EN 20H/HEBDO (2 SEMAINES JANV.ET 2 EN AVRIL).TRAVAIL 6 JOURS/SEM- AINE TOUS LES MATINS 8H30-12H30;14H-16H+ LE SAMEDI. Type de contrat CONTRAT TRAVAIL SAISONNIER DE 4 MOI  Expérience DEBUTANT ACCEPTE  Qualification Manoeuvre Salaire indicatif HORAIRE 8,71 Euros (57,13 F) For that she was supposed to do 4 rooms an hour...if it took longer she was only paid by the 4 room an hour tarif. After all it is unskilled unqualified work which is looked for by many to make ends meet.

The report is however biassed in that it quotes  a contribution of £400 as needed for a private sector worker to get the equivalent of  Teacher's pension of £15000, but does not quote the superannuation payments the teacher had made to get that pension. It give the impression that it is a  gift.

Explosives were found in Printemps-Haussmann à Paris: Have been defused see here

KathyC: You are completely correct that the Mutuelle won't pay the  "franchises". In fact I believe they are not allowed to. My point is that they, like the increasing 'contrôles' are a symptom of a tightening up. In that climate I want to have the 70% topped up to 100%, (rather than saying I will pay the 30% if I ever have to)  knowing that there will be in any case more and more non-reimbursed either by the State or the Mutuelle .  A crucial point for me is which things the Mutuelle will pay, rather than just the cost. For example look carefully at the Optical/Dental options, and what they do about care at home.

I think that what you need is a 'procuration' Like the power of Proxy Here is one for example to give permission to operate a bank account

"Just wanted to point out that not all specialists working in the private sector charge more" Perhaps not for the moment. I think one can see which way the wind is blowing though. In the same film a  department in a clinic was shown which seeks out all the possible little things to add on to the bill, going into the patient's medical history to 'justify' it. This is because the Sécu pay, and so it is regarded as a 'vache à lait' by the private providers. After all they exist to make  a profit, unlike the public Hospital.  With moves towards 'franchises' and 'contrôles'on things like hospital transport just the first steps in tightening up the Health Budget I prefer to have a Mutuelle which at least pays some of the cost on top of what I expect to be a diminishing part paid by the State.

As might be expected the Telegraph has jumped on this

I can recommend Mas Amiel among other Maury wines On the book front ( to get back on topic) I have just finished Philippe Claudel - Les Ames Grises bleak but beautiful prose. It was made into a film a couple of years back By co-incidence the evening that I finished it there was a Film on 2 'Le voyage de la veuve' set at exactly the same period and also close to the front...

According to this report some UK public sector pensions (specifically from the NHS)  have been being overpaid, and will have to be corrected

Of course if there is a 'condition suspensive' about you needing a credit...and you can show that you can no longer obtain a credit owing to your lack of work, there may be an angle.

[quote user="chessfou"]I've currently got 4 books on the go: Daudet - Lettres de mon moulin - this is my bed-time reading; a very nice collection of short stories and the French isn't too tough. Orsenna - Madame Bâ - this is tough going (I aim to read it in front of my PC, so that I can look up the vocab which doesn't appear in any of my dictionaries, except the big Robert&Collins and sometimes not even there) but I like Orsenna's books - I have read four of his so far. Pagnol - Collected Works - this is an easier read (roughly the Daudet level) and great fun, though I've only just started - La Gloire de mon père, to be followed by the Jean de Florette stuff. I find it reminiscent of Goscinny in style. Druon - Le Roi de fer - first of 7vols in the series Les Rois maudits. Great stuff if you like historical novels (this is basically the 100 Years War, so you may want to discuss it with your neighbours!). I think it is just slightly more difficult than the Daudet & Pagnol but a doddle compared with Orsenna. [/quote] If you enjoy the Daudet you might like a trip to Cucugnan where they have a small theatre with regular dramatised readings..

In any case I think you have made the right decision. There is increasing privatisation in the French system, with some specialisms being only available in Private Clinics in some towns.I saw a recent documentary on this on M6, and for example there was a town shown where ALL the urologists worked in the Private: there were none available at the Public Hospital. This can mean that you have a hefty bill for 'dépassement des horaires' . (Despite the word 'horaires' it is nothing to do with the time taken in the consultation, but a reflection of the added overheads the Doctor has to pay the Clinic for the space and facilities occupied) Whether or not the Mutelles pick that up (something you could ask when choosing) , it is at least clear that it is best to have the top up cover so at least 100% of the normal charge is covered.

Another one people spell wrongly is Bridgwater...I have often seen it with an extra 'e'

"Under the law as it now stands, residents must prove a minimum Euro income.  There are going to be people whose income has now fallen below the required amount and who now thus are illegal through no fault of their own. " The root of the problem ( as it was with the Health issue) is that this regulation (which always was the case before 2000, and has now been re-introduced) was dropped for a period between  November 2003 and  November 2007. Before that period you needed a 'carte de séjour' and to get that you had to prove that you had sufficient resources. Now that requirement as to resources  has been re-established. That 4 year gap was a disservice to  a number of people who didn't need to think about whether they could afford to live here, and are now suffering. Of course anybody who came in Nov 2003 will now be" legal", under the 5 year residence rule, but that doesn't help to pay the bills

[quote user="Val_2"]€350/month is a third of many people's monthly take home wage here and they manage. Makes you sick to hear those brit types harping on when they are living the good life and made the decision to forsake their homes in the UK themselves.They will just have to stop filling their olympic sized villa swimming pools and buying new Jags every year won't they!![/quote] 350 euros is more than a third of some British pensioner's income in France too.. On a pension of £1000 which got 1500 euros in exchange not long ago, the present rate represents a loss of about that. The problem is that is bigger loss for those for whom it is not disposable income...

Ah OK! Now I see the Government is prepared to let the pound fall http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/pound-to-be-left-to-its-fate-1067048.html

[quote user="Simon"]Don't you mean...the pound is less than one euro?[/quote] As my title said 'Pound below Parity'..but the replies are inexplicably  all in this this thread.

Just beat you to it! http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1498909/ShowPost.aspx

According to today's paper "After commission and a handling fee, however, €18 cost The Observer £19.61, an exchange rate of €0.918 to the pound."

[quote user="Thibault"]A report in The Times yesterday said that the UK "big four" supermarkets were actually cheaper over a range of products than Aldi and Lidl.  Although the discounters had one or two very cheap products, in fact a lot of their stock was dearer. This is interesting because there has been a lot of publicity in UK about people deserting the main supermarkets for the perceived cheaper discounters.  Aldi has seen a 20% rise in demand in the past three or four months.  The rash of money off and other promo offers make it quite difficult for people to work out who or what is cheaper where.   A good marketing strategy, perhaps.[:)] [/quote] This was exactly the point made in  the link I gave in my original post The idea of this thread was to see if the sale thing applies in France in the experience of the posters here.

Bit early isn't it?

Off- Peak hours include 12-2 so I do my washing and top-up water heating then.  

It's only one day (plus the evening before if you have family). I just treat it  like a Sunday. Have a lie in and a late lunch.  Night soon falls... In any case I have a medical appointment on the 26th so better not exaggerate....

NOZ isn't known in the south I'm afraid..[:(]