Losing Carte Vitale but still have business

[nephilim]

I have had a business since Jan 2008, initially setup as a Micro enterprise  and paying charges to RSI. I then transferred to AE, but then had to transfer to MSA as the majority of my work is gardening. I could not be a AE with MSA so had to stop and hence stopped paying RSI.

That was Dec 2009, but between then and now I have had my Carte Vitale from RSI even though I have not been paying them anything but they have now sent a letter saying my rights to have cover from them will cease at the end of this month!

I have contacted MSA to explain the problem I have but as I do not work more than 1200 hours pa they cannot cover me for health.

RSI actually said I should speak to CPAM about cover but they do not deal with the self employed, I thought they should of known that!

So, just wondered what other options are open to me to get equivalent cover?

Fortunately my wife has her own CV with her business so is covered as well as our 2 children so it is just me that will soon have none.

We have been resident in France for 7 years now if that makes a difference.

Thanks

[Clair]

You should be able to piggy-back on your wife's cover as an "ayant-droit".

You need to complete a form to that effect and get your wife to sign it.

This will cover you for 12 months and you'll need to sign a declaration at the end of 2013 to confirm your are still "health dependent" on her to get cover for another 12 months, and so on...

Look online for your wife's caisse (RSI?) and get it done ASAP.

[NormanH]

This is quite complicated, and I haven't got a lot of experience with the MSA.

It seems to me that you have been too honest, and would have been better off declaring your gardening work as 'services à la personne' which is allowed under the AE scheme.

I know that they try to push gardeners into the MSA because of the Code Rural, but it is a grey area, and doesn't allow for part-time work as you have found out.

If you 'stopped working' for a while would you be eligible for cover on your wife's card, until you could restart as an AE again?

Or is  changing back to an AE not allowed?

Another route might be to go down the Chèque Emploi Service route for the various gardening jobs

Lorsque

l'on a recours à une aide à domicile (ménage, repassage, petits travaux

de jardinage ou baby-sitting) c'est bien souvent pour se simplifier la

vie. Il est alors légitime de ne pas souhaiter la compliquer avec des

formalités contraignantes.

Is specifically mentioned.

PS didn't see Clair's post as I took a long time with interruptions to type this up.

Listen to her [:)]

[AnOther]

Doesn't 5 years residency enter the equation somewhere ?

[Mr Ceour de Lion II]

I thought this was France, not America. I agree with AnOther, surely the fact you've lived there for more than 5 years qualify you for cover?

[EuroTrash]

I agree with Clair. It can be as complicated as you want to make it but if you've been told you are not entitled to cover in your own right you are entitled to piggy back on your wife's cv, so why not apply for that. If they decide your cover should come via a different route they will tell you.

[nephilim]

Thanks all for getting back, think I am going to approach our local CPAM again (phoned the helpline before) to explain things and how long I have been here and see what they have to say.

If all fails there I think getting on my wifes card will be the next best attempt at getting covered.

Will update on what happens.

[EuroTrash]

You may find you need to do it the other way round. I was under the impression that CMU-B is only offered to people who have no other route to healthcare, and you do have another route in that you can piggyback on your wife's. So I suspect you would be told to apply to be accepted onto your wife's attestation, and if that is refused (which I can't see any reason for), then CPAM would cover you.

I think you have to follow their order of priority - first is having cover via your own work or business, second is cover via your partner (or parent in the case of children), and CMU is meant to be a safety-net for people who would otherwise have no cover.