Social security and the carte Vitale

To register submit an application to the CPAM via ameli.fr or by post or at the centre.

• Documents: the passport or residence card, a translated certified birth certificate (extrait d'acte de naissance) or equivalent, proof of address, an RIB (your bank details), proof of stable residence for over three months, and proof of work or study if any.
• Employees get a number from the employer via DSN, and students via the university register.
• You receive an attestation de droits, a temporary entitlement certificate, and after weeks the carte Vitale by post, and your account on ameli.fr and the ameli app is opened.
• Start the application early since you may wait weeks or months, and benefit is retroactive.
• If you have a European number use the carte européenne d'assurance maladie (CEAM).
• And do not pay any intermediary.

The Vitale card is a green card with your number and an electronic chip inserted in the doctor's or pharmacist's device so that an electronic feuille de soins is sent to the CPAM and your expenses are reimbursed within about a week to your account, and with tiers payant (direct payment) you do not pay the covered portion.

• There is a carte Vitale dématérialisée in the Mon Espace Santé app.
• Carry your card always in your visits and report its loss at once.
• You have the right to request an attestation when the card is absent.
• Your ameli account creates a relevé de remboursements to follow your reimbursements.
• If your status changes (work, address or family) update your data.
• And the CPAM offers help by phone 3646 and in centres.
• And keep away from fraud messages in the name of ameli asking for bank details since they are fake.

The security usually reimburses 70 percent of the tarif de convention (the approved tariff) for a GP consultation (30 euros in sector 1 so 21 euros are reimbursed), with a difference participation forfaitaire of 2 euros and a franchise on medicines and transport.

• Hospitalisation 80 percent or 100 percent in chronic diseases and pregnancy.
• And the remainder ticket modérateur is paid by you or the mutuelle.
• Choose a médecin traitant (attending doctor) in a form you fix with the CPAM, and he is your gateway to specialists (parcours de soins coordonné), and if you do not choose one or visit a specialist directly the rate of reimbursement falls.
• Excepted are dentistry, ophthalmology, gynaecology and children in some cases.
• Doctors in sector 1 keep to the tariff, and in sector 2 they charge excesses (dépassements d'honoraires), so ask before booking.
• And the CPAM covers long-term disease cases (ALD) at 100 percent.

The mutuelle or complémentaire santé covers what the security does not reimburse (the ticket modérateur and the prices of dentistry, glasses and specialists), and is not compulsory for everyone but the employer pays half of it and must offer it to employees in the private sector.

• For individuals prices from 30 to 100 euros a month depending on age and cover (Harmonie, MGEN, Alan and SwissLife).
• Compare via online comparisons.
• And for those with low income the Complémentaire santé solidaire (C2S) is available free or for a token sum (up to 30 euros a month) covering most expenses without advance payment, and is requested on ameli.fr.
• And foreigners present for under three months or irregular are excluded from the security but may benefit from the Aide médicale de l'État (AME) for health conditions after three months of residence.
• And for foreign students Sécurité sociale étudiante is free since 2019.

Asylum seekers have the right to cover via PUMa after registering the claim and owning an attestation de demande d'asile without a waiting period, and they also have the right to C2S.

• For refugees and those with subsidiary protection the rights are complete.
• Irregular foreigners can obtain AME (100 percent cover) after three months of residence and proof of low income.
• And in emergencies soins urgents et vitaux are provided to everyone without conditions.
• For help call the CPAM on 3646 (free, sometimes with interpreters) or the Permanence d'accès aux soins de santé (PASS) in hospitals for those who do not yet have cover, and organisations such as Médecins du Monde and Cimade.
• And use Mon espace santé to keep your medical record.
• And do not shy from care out of fear of the administration since medical confidentiality is guaranteed and immigration is not informed.

What is PUMa?