Part 3
by Sara Vincent
There are different ways of accessing the French health system depending on your age and country of origin. This is the third article in our series about how to access health care in France. The first article focused on those who have a UK issued S1 and the second one on those who are not yet retired, are unemployed, or from a country that does not have reciprocal health arrangements with France. This third article focuses on how to apply for health care when you are registering as an ‘Enterpeneur Individuel au reel’ (self-employed).
If you are relocating to France and plan to run a business then you obtain automatic affiliation to the French health system. This occurs as part of the process of business registration and includes those who register as a ‘micro-entrepreneur’. As a self-employed person you will pay social security contributions, which include those for your health cover.
Your family will all be covered for health care; there is no need for both husband and wife to set up a business as both are covered, provided one of them has a registered business. Nevertheless, an economically inactive spouse/civil partner of a business owner or salaried person in France does have to make their own application for health cover.
Your business registration will take place at one of the registration centres, called the ‘Centre de Formalités des Entreprises’ (CFE) e.g. ‘Chambre de Commerce/Métiers’. It can also be carried out on-line. Your application for your business will be done without a social security number. The local health authority (CPAM – Caisse primaire d’assurance maladie) will subsequently write to you inviting you to join the system, at which point some formalities will be required.
In the weeks that follow you will receive many different letters including your ‘attestation of affiliation’. This attestation gives you a temporary social security number.
The first step after receiving your attestation of affiliation is to apply for the opening of your rights. To do so you need to fill in the S1106 ‘Demande d’ouveture des droits à l’assurace maladie’ – Application for membership in the French health system’
You will need to print this form off, complete it, and include all the necessary documentation with it which will include:
- A recent utility bill (less than three months)
- Your Attestation of Affiliation
- A copy of your passport
- A copy of your birth certificate
- A RIB ‘relevé d’identité bancaire’ giving details of your bank account.
If you have children, you also need to complete Cerfa 16002 . You will need to provide their birth certificates.
For more information you can contact us at info@franco-british-network.com