where are all the E106 people ?

[tigerfeet]

we keep seeing huge figures for the amount of E106 owners , but only a regular few share their experiences.

is there not more who use this site ?

[Maricopa]

We are![:(]

[woolybanana]

Just waiting til things sort themselves. And hoping that some French companies will offer insurance as I dont particularly like what is on offer from some of the others.

[londoneye]

Moi aussi.   I have accepted the inevitable, but will hang on until the very last minute.   We are very lucky and are relatively young and healthy, so we are basically just concerned with the financial implications.    But we will manage, since we have no option !!

[Lenht1951]

[B] Here also,  had several quotes and the cheapest to date is Expat Health with Morgan Price. They all have a CATCH 22. I cannot obtain comprehensive cover, not that I could afford it anyway,  as I have a pre existing condition, so,  I will not fulfill the conditions regarding residence. Sitting back and waiting for as long as necessary. Returning UK for Xmas and I may decide on what to do on return but I am definitely staying here and not rushing into anything.

[Rozmum]

I think we're all out here - but waiting and watching is the name of the game.  Our E106 runs out on 5th January............which is the day we return from the UK - family Xmas.  We've just been looking at the Health Issues site 4 or 5 times per day!!  So fed up that the French authorities feel that its ok to leave us hanging in the air about something as important as health care.  We both have 'existing' conditions so we just don't know if we will be accepted!

Mumble, mumble, mumble..............

 

[Ninthace]

We are here too - still waiting and hoping.

In the interim, we have conducted an analysis of a range of insurance policies in terms of cost and benefits and have just purchased a policy with the agreed caveat that, should things move in our favour. we can cancel it.

Can I add I'm getting slighty peeved by the "looks like we may be able to stay in the CMU so don't rock the boat posts" from those who either got here ahead of us or paid less NI than we did; or to put it bluntly in Jackspeak, the <<s*d you, I'm inboard>> approach.

[Just Chris]

We've had an E106 since March, and are under the impression that it runs out in 2009 - I hope we haven't been misled.  Also got our mutuelle.  We have no idea how we will fare once they eventually sort out what they are doing, but anticipate the worst, and are resigned to expensive private health care for 3 to 4 years upon expiry of the E106.  We shall see.

 

Chris

[Doodle]

We are here with you and we keep checking the site for updates but our E106 does not run out until Jan 2009.

We have had a letter for each of us to have a free intestine cancer check up but we are in two minds whether to have it done in case there is a problem and then we can't get 100% health cover. Ridiculous scenario to put your health at risk I know but what is the alternative. We had anticipated that we would have to pay into the system but I believe the figure will double going 100% private and that we will need to find around 3,000 + euros per year for 3 + years when our E106 runs out until we can get into the system and that will be coming out of our renovation savings - that goodness we were able to put some money aside before we arrived permanently in May this year.

The house may have to stay a wreck !!

[hester]

[quote user="Ninthace"]

 "looks like we may be able to stay in the CMU so don't rock the boat posts" from those who either got here ahead of us or paid less NI than we did; or to put it bluntly in Jackspeak, the <<s*d you, I'm inboard>> approach.

[/quote]

For me it's the injustice of it all.  A neighbour arrived similar time to us and joined the CMU this January 2007 when their E106 ran out. If only we hadn't had to two and a half years E106, if only we had managed to sell up and get here in 2004 as was planned, if only............

Still haven't done anything about PMI, suppose I'm still hoping that it might go away, but January 5th is looming!

[Russethouse]

If you have been checking the FHI site then you will have seen something about the Dutch residents in France. Does anyone know if the the Dutch get any help from their government once they have left the country ? Or are/were they straight into the CMU system ?

[Boiling a frog]

[quote user="Ninthace"]

Can I add I'm getting slighty peeved by the "looks like we may be able to stay in the CMU so don't rock the boat posts" from those who either got here ahead of us or paid less NI than we did; or to put it bluntly in Jackspeak, the <<s*d you, I'm inboard>> approach.

[/quote]

I, for one, am not saying s*d anyone.

We have had some leaks, nods, and winks to insurance experts and statements in linked publications. We have been advised that the Embassy in Paris and Jim Murphy on behalf of the British Government have been negotiating with their French counterparts.

As far as I am can see the French Govt have made no public statement, official announcement, or official press releases to show that there is any reconsideration of their original position or an unpublished new position. We live in France, are being ejected from the previously compulsory French health care system by rules and procedures effected under French Laws rightly or wrongly enacted under European Directives.

Do you think that the French will give a jot what the insurance people or the British officials have said if they decide to leave the situation as it is at the moment i.e. everybody is out. That means everybody, 5 years plus, 106ers, those in between, well, unwell and more or less OK? If they are trying to make sure that we do not know what is going on, will be fighting on all fronts and eventually fight among ourselves then they are succeeding. They have known all along what they were doing to us so why should their attitude change now.

I do not think that we should stop working against this but time is short and I believe that we must press urgently for the French to come clean, make their announcement, and then, when we know where we stand we can concentrate our efforts where they are needed.

I also wonder why if there are 37,000 affected there are only a score of people  on this forum and possibly a few hundred overall showing any interest in what is happening.

 

 

[Lenht1951]

Hi BaF [great name by the way contrary to what others have said] [B]

I really think that an awful  lot of people are unaware of the true situation you only have to look at other forums and talk to people to realise that they haven't got a clue.

I've lobbied and petitioned and if it were possible to physically kick @rse I would do that to.

 

[Sunday Driver]

The French position is already in the public domain through the various press and government briefings as well as the official statement published (albeit briefly) by the UK Dept of Health.  I think it is unrealistic to expect them to say ' sorry, we've changed our minds and everyone is out'.

If the announcement was indeed premature because the situation was still under consideration, it would be politically difficult for them to subsequently adopt a less favourable position for those affected. 

 

[Boiling a frog]

However they could just say we stand by our statement of 24th September which is the only official statement.

[Sunday Driver]

Do you really think that is how things happen in politics?

What about all the negotiation and agreement hammered out (with the usual political concessions, of course) with the UK government?  Do you imagine the French just happened to hear about Cooperlola's campaign and said, yeh, OK, we'll go along with that?  What about all the update e-mail briefings from the French DSS spokeperson to the press? 

Let's be clear about one thing - the principle is set, it's just the practicalities which are under consideration now.

 

[Joshua]

I agree "Boiling a Frog" is a great handle btw

I'm still bumping into Expats who haven't a clue that change is iminent. Mostly I think because they don't use the internet

I've got friends here who dispite my appeals keep saying " The French wouldn't do something like that"

You feel also guiltly trying to explain that their dream may be about to be shattered

I've starting asking people how old they are, then breathing a sigh of relief when they say 65 plus

Most of the websites for property don't even mention it and some are even still saying how wonderful the health service is without saying anything about the problems ahead.

You are right SD "The die is cast" Its just a bit of fudging the detail now

Joshua[:D]

[Clair]

Misinformation is everywhere:

[quote]

Are You Affected By The Changes To The Health System In France?

Here we examine the changes that have been made to the French Health system and how they affect the foreign population in France

By Nick Dowlatshahi

Changes

were made to the Health System in France in September regarding

non-working expats. The new measures limit the rights of these

foreigners to free health care who have not yet reached pensionable age

and do not work in France. The new rules apply to all foreigners and

not just the British. Effectively the new French President Nicholas

Sarkozy’s stance is that if you want to retire in your 40’s or 50’s

that’s fine but don’t expect the French state to pay for it.

The change concerns Britons who have retired to France, are not

working, and are not yet old enough to receive a UK pension, which

represents around 6,000 people.

Until now British expats were allowed to pay contributions (8% of

their income) in order to get treatment through the French health-care

system via the Couverture Medicale Universelle(CMU) but most of them

previously covered by the NHS took up French residence before

retirement age and benefited from France’s healthcare system without

even paying for it. This of course is unfair as France should not have

to foot the bill of early retirees just because they were benevolent

enough to do so in the past.

There is a similar situation for these early retired expats on low

incomes who won’t be able to claim free health insurance via the CMU

anymore or for those who have reached UK retirement age but do not

qualify for a UK pension.

For all those expats insured via the CMU, the French authorities

will give them until end of March 2008 to find private health

insurance. However these changes won’t affect retired people receiving

a state pension from the UK. They will keep their health insurance in

France via form E121.

In the short term, new arrivals in France don’t need to worry as

they can be covered for up to 2 years by using the E106 form- this cost

being met by the UK government. Private health care will have to be

taken out and paid for by these individuals in the long term though.

Cover starts at around 1800 Euros per year for a healthy 60 year old

requiring only basic cover and who is willing to pay a top-up himself

for certain treatments. If the same person requires full cover then the

cost of insurance will be around 2700 Euros per year which when you

compare it to the cost of private medical cover in the UK is actually

still very reasonable.

Thos who are not affected by the new measures include the

self-employed, employed and those married to or living with a French

person. It is the same for those who are living with or married to a

person in possession of an E121 or E106 form.

The French government points out that, as laid down in EU Directive

2004/38, it does not have any obligation to pay the health-care costs

of non French EU nationals who have never worked in the country, and

nor does it have any obligation to let them pay to join the French

health-care insurance system via the CMU. France must reduce its

deficit as it has the highest public spending within the EU and cutting

out the spending on immigrants that do not contribute to the French

economy is one way of doing this.

There are however a good number of people who come to France who are

disabled or with serious conditions who may be denied free treatment.

The negative publicity from this may encourage the French authorities

to re-think this attitide to those specific groups of people. And there

is a possibility they will allow expats taking early retirement in

France to continue paying their health insurance contributions via the

CMU. We will not know for sure until the beginning of 2008 when the

final laws have been passed and will update you as soon as we hear

about it.

http://www.copypastearticles.com/article/11425/are-you-affected-by-the-changes-to-the-health-system-in-france/

[/quote]

[Tony F Dordogne]

And this guy is who?

[Ron Avery]

"most of them previously covered by the NHS took up French residence before retirement age and benefited from France’s healthcare system without even paying for it"

 

If you changed "most" to "some" and made 6,000 up to 37,000,  its not actually a bad summary of what  has happened or is proposed  is it?

[timc17]

So what is the real figure - 6000 or 37000?

If it's 6000 then this is only a very small percentage of the Brits living in France - hence a trickle of posts on the subject.

37000 however represents around 15 % of the expat community and one would therefore expect a deluge!

[Phil & Pat]

Still sitting here blissfully unaware of anything happening down at the CPAM.

Well, I would be if I relied on the French press, TV or radio, or a letter from CPAM to tell me anything is going on.  I wonder what the facteur will bring on Monday Jan 7th?

Have they started the awareness-raising campaign yet?

 

[Ron Avery]

[quote user="timc17"]

So what is the real figure - 6000 or 37000?

If it's 6000 then this is only a very small percentage of the Brits living in France - hence a trickle of posts on the subject.

37000 however represents around 15 % of the expat community and one would therefore expect a deluge!

[/quote]

7000 people have E 106s but we don't know how many expire in January could be all, could be a few, could be a lot those are people are living in France working away, who knows.  There are, it is believed 30,000 inactifs in the CMU base.

[Joshua]

I understand, on average, 6000 E106's are issued each year

Most would have been for France so 7000 in total sounds right

Most will now be for Portugal, me thinks !

You only have to be there 70 days to qualify for full residence status and health care

Tomorrow is another day. Who knows, we might even get to know our fate?

Joshua[:D]

[tigerfeet]

sorry Joshua you will have to wait till the new year , nick dowlatshahi says so [:P]

http://www.copypastearticles.com/article/11425/are-you-affected-by-the-changes-to-the-health-system-in-france/

thanks to the e106`ers who have replied