Angie Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 Sorry if this has been posted previously but I read today in a French magazine that if you are French resident and reach retirement age (assume that's French retirement age and not the UK one?) then all your dependents then become eligible to use the French healthcare system. My husband is 60 in 3 months time so will that mean we both no longer have to pay private healthcare costs? I am not due to retire for another six years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted January 15, 2013 Share Posted January 15, 2013 UK retirement age is what decides which is now something over 65, I think. Unless you have worked her, which is a ball game I wouldn't even dream of playing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Which magazine? If you have proper french residence for five full years, then you may be able to get into the french health care system....... haven't others done it, or are trying to do it. And if you do, then you'll have to pay some sort of contribution into the french system. And please remember that french pensioners still have to pay into the system one way or another, and then usually have a mutualist, so it is hardly simple eligibility at least I hope not............ as we live in the UK now and still pay french health care costs, and my husband is 62. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerdesal Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 My understanding of the situation ( which may admittedly be wrong) is that if you are receiving a UK State retirement pension you are entitled to an S1 from the UK and your dependents can ''piggy-back'' on to the cover that the S1 gives you in France. CPAM obviously have to process the paperwork and you may need a mutuelle for the top up, but that's your decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 PD is correct, it's the fact of being in receipt of a UK state pension - not just entitled to - which qualifies you for an S1 and thereby affiliation to the French health system.In any case 60 is not the state retirement age in France, it is the earliest age at which someone can retire and receive a reduced pension. Proper retirement age is 65 for both men and women, increasing to 67.It's not universal either and can be means tested plus payments made can sometimes be reclaimed from the recipients estate on their death !Incidentally UK is unique in Europe in not having any such early retirement arrangements so it's all or nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 You have not contributed to the French system, so you are not entitled by that route.Your husband is coming up to 60 so he is still 5 (or 6?) years short of his UK OAP at which time he will be covered by an S1 and health care here paid for by the UK.Between those two there are those who got into the CMU by paying around 8% of the income (plus 6.6% social charges if they played it by the book) but that route was closed off some years back.I don't think there is another, except in extreme hardship.What I don't understand however is your comment that you are not due to retire for 6 years. Does that mean you are working? Here in France? If you are you should be in the system and your husband would come under your cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gardian Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 [quote user="NormanH"]What I don't understand however is your comment that you are not due to retire for 6 years. Does that mean you are working? Here in France? If you are you should be in the system and your husband would come under your cover.[/quote]Perhaps it means that the lady is in her mid-50's and will not reach State Retirement Age until she reaches 60 or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 If the lady is in her mid 50's then she'll have to be 66 or even 67 to get her UK state pension. I was born in 1953 and for those ladies born in late 53, the age will be 66. As the OP's husband is 60 in three months, then he'll be 65 when he gets his UK state pension and subsequent S1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 So as far as I can see that is when they will be entitled to have health care paid for by the UK.I don't think there is anything else before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeeJay Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Reading this thread gave me a thought. Is everybody entitiled to have an S1 irrespective when they reach retirement age or do they have to have qualifying years as in an OAP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 If you mean a permanent S1, then this only comes when you get your old age pension. I understand that you can get the temporary one for periods of up to two years, if you have a record of paying national insurance contributions in work but others will know the fine print better.I got my OAP S1 on the same day as my UK state pension which got me into the French system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeeJay Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Wooly....Yes, I understand the principle, as I have done exactly the same, but what if, for some reason, large chunks of NI contributions were not made, would one still be entitled to a permanent S1 on reaching 65, or whenever? How would it be possible for HMG to pay for one's care for the rest of ones life in France, the percentage obviously, if hardly any contributions were made in UK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 To be clear, are you asking if an S1 is only given if you are entitled to a full OAP? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 [quote user="CeeJay"]Wooly....Yes, I understand the principle, as I have done exactly the same, but what if, for some reason, large chunks of NI contributions were not made, would one still be entitled to a permanent S1 on reaching 65, or whenever? How would it be possible for HMG to pay for one's care for the rest of ones life in France, the percentage obviously, if hardly any contributions were made in UK?[/quote]Well, I don't know to be honest. I guess there must be a minimum percentage of the pension which is some sort of a cut off for the S1. Have you tried phoning Newcastle and asking? They are very good.But I do remember that the number of contributions I had to make was reduced from forty six(?) to thirty so I stopped chipping in, which saved me thousands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antonia Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 No is the short answer. If you haven't paid enough contributions to receive a state pension you cannot obtain a S1. You don't need a full pension - just to have paid enough National Insurance for a partial one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 So long as you are in receipt of a state pension - the amount is irrelevant - then you qualify for an S1.Before they changed the qualifying period for the full pension from 44 years to 30 if you had less than 9 years in then you got nothing, that would also have meant no E121 as the S1 was then.Now with the 30 year period all full years count pro-rata so if you had say 10 full years when you reached state retirement age then you would get 1/3rd. By the same token if you only had 1 full year you would qualify for 1/30th but that would still be sufficient for an S1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 It is the same with a French Pension. If you have one, however small, your health care is paid by France.This is a bit of a nuisance in some ways to me, because it means I am clobbered for paying Social Charges that I wouldn't pay if I was on an S1, but that's how it is . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeeJay Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 AnOtherThanks for that reply I think that has covered it very well and maybe put some people's mind at rest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 As paying cotisations in France when working is obligatoire, it means that automatically someone is paying into the french pensions schemes, I would say that anyone who has worked in France, could well end up with a french pension which as in NH's case override any 'rights' people hope to have.I do know that as the french were slow in issuing an S1 to us, then Newcastle plagued us to get said S1. In Newcastle they do understand how all this works, whether the CNAV do, is quite another thing, but I doubt it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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