Free prescriptions for over 60s in France?

[Pixie Toadstool]

Hello this has probably been asked before but I can't find anything relevant on the forum search engine so please forgive me.

My husband is 60 and so was getting free presriptions in the UK.  He has regular medication for hypertension. 

We now have our S1 cards and wondered whether he would be able to claim back free prescriptions in France from CPAM (or whatever) or whether he will have to pay for them himself now. 

Also does anyone have a link on what can be claimed back from CPAM and what can't please?  For instance can we claim back for GP visits or not?

Thanks in advance!

Pix

[:D]

[cooperlola]

There's a proper explanation of how the refunds work on our website, link below.

In essense your Carte Vitale (is that what you mean by your S1 card?) is the mechanism by which CPAM refunds a percentage of your costs (normally around 70% or so) to which ever bank account you have nominated to your caisse.  Your entitlement is the same as a French citizen and to get the full percentage refunded you normally need a top-up insurance policy. 

A complicated subject but the website explains most of this in full.[:)]

http://www.frenchhealthissues.eu/health_system/menu.htm

[5-element]

edited after re-reading post properly!

[Will]

Pix, regardless of age, your entitlement as a French resident who belongs to the French social security system is that, basically, 70% of the cost of consultations and 65% of the cost of most medications is refundable, as Coops says, from your primary health assurer (CPAM in most cases). The rest can be covered by a top-up insurance.

Depending on the arrangements your doctor and pharmacy have with CPAM and your top-up provider you may have to pay and claim a refund (in which case you will get a brown form, 'feuille de soins'), or secondly, you pay and the refund will be made automatically via your carte vitale, or thirdly, you just had over your carte vitale and everything is processed automatically with no money actually changing hands. It's complicated, like all French official matters, but you should soon get the hang of it.

As Coops' site will tell you, if you are in France under the S1(E106) form, and you arrived after November 2007 (as you did) then there may be a period between the expiry of the E form and either one of you reaching UK state retirement age and thus becoming eligible for the S1(E121), or five years after your arrival. During this period you will not be eligible for health cover under the French system, so you will need to take out full private health assurance or find a way into the system, e.g. through working.