E106-CMU

[Flossy]

My husband and I have lived in France since June 2006.  I had E106 until Jan 08, husband until Jan 09.  Both had Carte Vitale's, which I believe are no longer valid, although we still have them. Have desperatley been trying to renew C.V, but getting nowhere and confused, also tried to apply for European Health Card.  No success.  We do not work here, we live on my husbands Military pension which is taxed in UK.  We pay our tax fonciere and tax d'habitation, and all other utility bills. We do not have any health care top-up insurance.  I have received a letter in the post from CPAM stating that we are not entitled  cover with CMU (don't know what that is really) and also a form from CPAM for IRSA (not sure what that is either).  My question is do pay have to contribute with some kind of insurance policy to join the CMU or are we eligable because of our length of stay in France.  Thanks.

[BJSLIV]

If you have been living as properly documented residents ins |France since 2006 then you will be entitled to join the French health system. This will entail you paying roughly 8% of your income as a contribution to the system. You would also have to pay for your existing top-up insurance if you have any.

I note that you do not mention paying any income tax in France. If you haven't been registered for French tax it's possible that you may have missed the boat for joining the French health service. In this case you will have to take out private insurance. Provided you haven't got major existing health problems, they won't be covered by the insurance, this might be cheaper for you. The costs can vary but should not exceed £3000 or £4000  per year for the two of you.

 

 

[gosub]

IRSA, Insulin Resistance syndrome.

[Flossy]

Thanks for the reply, but I was under the impression that because we had been living in France prior to Nov 2007 and sent to CPAM our letters stating that we relinquished our rights to UK Health cover, that we were automatically entitled to come under the CMU, I didn't realise that you had to pay for this. 

[Benjamin]

The 8% figure mentioned in BJSLIV's answer is after the first €8.000 (approx) of earnings but you still haven't answered his question regarding tax as this is one certain way of proving residency.

[Flossy]

We do not pay tax in France.  The tax is deducted at source from my husbands pension in the UK.  Do people who do not work in France still pay tax to the French Government? 

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Flossy"]We do not pay tax in France.  The tax is deducted at source from my husbands pension in the UK.  Do people who do not work in France still pay tax to the French Government? [/quote]Even though you do not pay tax in France (which you won't because your husband's pension is a military one, as you say) this does not let you off filling in a tax form, I'm afraid.  If you haven't you may be considered as not having lived here legally before November 2007.  One reason for this is that the French cannot calculate what you owe in healthcare contributions without a proper declaration of your earnings.

You should have applied to join CMU immediately on expiry of your E forms, and if you had done so you would probably have had no probems, but now it's all a bit late.  There is some more detailed explanation of the regulations on our website (below.)  You should have a good read of all the sections which apply to exisiting residents.  In  theory, you are entitled to join CMU if you have been living here legally, but your having left this so late to sort out may indeed cause you some problems which could result in your being rejected.  Can I take it you've been fit and healthy since your E forms expired or have you just been paying up and hoping?

[Boiling a frog]

Oh dear oh dear

You are resident in France, you must declare ALL of your worldwide income in France. You will not have to pay tax in France on the forces pension due to a double tax agreement .

You are now in a bit of a pickle.

You should have made an income tax declaration in the May following your arrival in France. You would then have received an Avis d,imposition and a notional taxation amount

This notional amount would have been used to determine how much you would have to pay to CMU to obtain health cover.

When your E106 expired you should have applied to CPAM for CMU giving them a copy of your tax form so they could determine the amount payable by you.

That would only cover you 70% and you would have needed a top up insurance to cover you for the rest

But you have done none of these, you can only throw yourself on the mercy of the local impots and CPAM

Best of luck

[Flossy]

Now I am totally confused.  We have submitted a tax form for the 2 years that we have lived here, and declared my husbands pension, but we do not pay tax in France.  We did request new C.V's months ago. I am sorry but not very good at this,  We have also visited CPAM and filled in various forms and given all relevant information.  We are not hiding anything whatsoever, We have had a continous back and forwards of forms from CPAM, requesting all kinds of information, which I have sent them. 

[BJSLIV]

In that case you will eventually be OK. You will just have to continue the French paper-chase and you will be admitted to the sytem. They will tell you how much you have to pay based on your tax returns. as has been said before the bill  will be roughly 8% of your income above 8000 Euros.

[cooperlola]

As BJSLIV says, you should (eventually) be fine.  It's always tough to figure out what might have gone wrong when one only has a bit of info', thus I'm sorry if I misunderstood.  It does sound as if you have done what you should. When you say you have no Cartes Vitales, can I assume that you have no Attestations either?  As you're not paying, I imagine not.  But if it's simply the cards you are waiting for, then at least your healthcare will be paid for (well, about 70% of it anyway.)

There are a couple of explanations for your problems.  It may simply (I guess simply is the wrong word) be a recalcitrant CPAM steadfastly disobeying the rules in which case, our website explains what to do next.  Alternatively, it could be that your income falls below the level at which you can join the CMU de base (the healthcare system to which you contribute 8% of your income).  If it does, then your income would be below that at which you are considered not to be "a burden on the social security system" and that would be a possible sticking point.  Unlikely, but possible. 

One thing to remember is that although you may not pay tax here, you certainly do have to pay for your state healthcare - a completely seperate entity in France.