What is the E121 used for?

[rooney]

We are hoping to move to France shortly and as I get Incapacity Benefit I am entitled to get the E121, once we have an address there.  I am 63.  Do we still need to take out medical insurance?  How are repeat prescriptions processed?

The whole process appears very complicated to us, so a simple answer would be appreciated.

[Ron Avery]

Do a Google search on E121, there are loads of expat sites that explain what an E121 does for you.

Basically if you are receiving an incapacity benefit you will continue to do so from the UK unless the planned reforms go through and that could affect a lot of people here.  You will not have to pay into the French Health system with an E121 .  BUT that basic health cover only covers you for 70% of most costs, like Doctors visits and some medicines.  You  can get repeat prescriptions but not infinitum, usual is for 3 months and then an appointment with the Doctor is required but with some conditions you may be able to get a longer prescription>  However, don't assume that your medicines will be free just because they are in the UK, each case is dealt with on its merits.

[derf]

With an E121 you will get the same health care benefits as a French National would, you will be reimbursed for a percentage of your healthcare and medicines, this has been covered many times on this forum,  and you could do a search to find out all the details on the percentages for medicines, doctors and hospital care.

But basically you will have to make up the shortfall between what you get reimbursed by CPAM and the actual cost, most people take out an insurance to cover this, but it is your own choice.

As for repeat prescriptions your doctor would want to see you on a regular basis to determine if you still needed the same drugs, I don't think you would be able to phone the surgery for another repeat prescription as you would in the UK

[Laotze]

I am on regular medication and my prescription is for 6 courses of the tablets. My husband takes Imigran for migraines and his prescriptions are also usable 6 times. Six seems to be the maximum that the doctor will prescribe without seeing you again but he can of course give you fewer repeats form just a single course of medication upwards. One takes the original prescription in to the pharmacist for each repeat and it is stamped on each occasion.

[indiana]

A forum member has just mentioned on this subject that details for percentages of reimbursedment for different health issues can be searcehed for. I would be most grateful for details on this.

I find the subject confusing, particularly the top up insurance costs, as it appears that premiums in france are as high as in uk but for far less incurred cost. eg. doctors and hospital care seems to be half uk (maybe less) and the state pays around 70% (100%in some cases) of the costs anyway.

In the newspapers here the subject of health care costs and top up requirements seems always to be answered by health insurance sales people, so perhaps a little bias there?!

Thanks for any guidance .

[Teamedup]

The health care costs are on Ameli.fr which is the CPAM web site. They will tell you the values of the various vignettes and then you can ask your pharmacist which vignette your medication has.

Top up insurance can be done via private insurance companies or mutualists. You should shop around and remember 100% means very little general cover. Ours covers up to 300% on some things and for optical it is better if they only give us say 10%, which was changed to an over 100% a few years ago and we pay a lot more. You should discuss optical and dental costs with anyone you propose to use to get the best idea.

[indiana]

Thanks for the tip re CPAM web site, though still unclear what is covered in cases like public and domestic accidents, and eg an emergency appendicitus.

  However, my question re insurance costs remains; why do premiums cost the same as in UK (PPP/BUPA etc) when the costs of consultancy/hospital accomodation etc is less than half AND the state pays 70% of this??

I might raise these as separate questions under this health care as I've been trying to get a clear answer for over a year.

[Owen]

Hello Indiana,

I think there are two sides to this question. I am not familiar with BUPA/PPP premiums in the UK but I will try and offer a chink of light. I should say if you have a BUPA policy via a corporate scheme in the UK you will have a very good deal indeed; the premiums for an individual are considerably higher.

First of all I suspect that you would have to take out a very high level of cover with a French complementary insurance to match the premium of a BUPA policy. I cannot believe that if you took out a French complementary insurance that just covered hospitalisation for example, that it would attract the same premium as a BUPA policy offering a similar plan.

Secondly to a certain extent you are comparing apples with oranges in the levels of cover offered. BUPA will apply exclusions. Sure if you want a hip replacement this is OK but what about treatment for chronic conditions? There may well be a blanket exclusion on such treatment. And of course there will be no cover for pre-existing conditions. And even with the best of private policies will offer little in the way of dental and optical care. French complementary insurers do apply exclusions but they are nothing like as draconian as those applied by BUPA or any other full private insurer. In the main pre-existing conditions can be covered. Teeth. Anything over and above routine dental treatment is expensive and the level of cover offered by CPAM is not good eg; crowns. CPAM cover for routine optical is even more miserly. It should come as no surprise therefore that complementary insurance that does give very comprehensive cover in these 2 areas will attract the premiums to match.

Having said all that, and at the risk of incurring the wrath of the insurance industry, my researches in the complementary health insurance market lead me to believe there is a lot of mediocrity about. This is not helped by a lack of transparency by the providers. They use various criteria in assessing premiums but not all providers use the same ones.

I expect I have probably bewildered you as opposed to offering clarification but the nature of healthcare in France makes it a murky subject.

Regards

Peter Owen

[email protected]

[Teamedup]

Accidents, yes you have now opened a can of worms there.

 

Our home insurance covers for accidents under certain conditions. As does our motor insurance.

 

I do not know where to start really.

I do know that if we ever have an accident, we always declare it to our insurers. It is 'just in case' usually that there is any follow up and in one case there was, ie our son had to wait until he was a certain age before he could have something done.

And sometimes we declare an accident to more than one insurer, our home insurance is usually the best as some of the sports insurances have very poor cover. We are encouraged, although no longer forced to take sports insurances these days.

Sometimes it all gets very complicated.