How can my French wife get health insurance while visiting France? She won't be working there.?

Show all answers

WISE OWL

Where do you live?
Only permanent residents within the EEC are entitled to benefit from reciprocal agreements between European states for health and injury treatment, and even so not all expenses are covered or refunded. If you and your wife are resident in the USA, Australia or New Zealand, you have no option other than taking out a travel insurance for her in the country where you live before she comes to France just as European residents have to do when travelling to those countries. If you are a resident in the UK or Ireland you have to apply of a European Health Inssurance Cardcard.(EHIC)
http://www.nhs.uk/Healthcareabroad/Pages/Healthcareabroad.aspx
The fact that she is a French national does not entitle her to this if she is living in a non EEC state. In any case it always is wise to take out a travel insurance even if one is entitled to the the EHIC simply because many expenses are not covered and neither is repatriation following a sudden illness or accident.

ChocoBN

She is not entitled to any health insurance as a mere visitor. If she has insurance in the US, then ask her insurance if they cover her abroad. If not, buy a traveller's health insurance on insuremytrip.com.

I have French citizenship but I live in the US and I don't have French health insurance when I go to France on vacation. The French health insurance has nothing to do with citizenship.

Cabal

If she won't be working and paying her taxes then she is not entitled to it. End of the story. There is no free lunch and despite the myth that Social Security is free in France it isn't, we pay through monthly taxes just as Americans pay monthly for their own private social security.
Ours is better but that is the only difference really. (tease)

Eclipsepearl

The others are right. She isn't entitled to anything more than any other visitor from a non-EU country, even though she has French citizenship and is from there originally.

For the record, French health care is not free. There are fees to be paid and patients are reimbursed. This is actually good news for a visitor, who for a small procedure or visit only has to pay and get a receipt. They can then send it to their insurer themselves.

If you are in another E.U. country, then she only needs to get a EH IC card.
https://www.ehic.org.uk/Internet/home.do

Bear in mind that even if you're British, the EH IC card doesn't cover certain expenses, such as travel to France specifically to have procedures done or repatriation after an accident. She may still need additional coverage if she wants more services.

I wrote a chapter on the French health care system for a guide to living in our part of France. I also was on U.S. health insurance for the first nine years living in France, including having three children on U.S. health insurance in France. It was not a problem because health costs are so much lower in France than in the U.S. The insurance you already have is probably sufficient. But get clear instuctions from them. Do they want the receipts in English? Will they accept the French "feuille des soins"? Here's a picture of it;
http://www.smerra.fr/remplir-sa-feuille-de-soins-29.html

For the record, my company did not. The procedures are number-coded so they didn't know what they were paying for. I also used to add a little note with my claim, explaining things further such as when there were separate bills for shots (one from the pharmacy, one from the doctor).

Don't let me confuse you. She will probably understand as she knows the system here. These tips are more to keep you from having to resubmit claims, a few tricks I learned the hard way!

But everything was paid. Just contact your insurer and ask for whomever deals with foreign claims.

Hope that helps!

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: