2. Health Insurance in France

1. 2.1. E106 Health Insurance Cover
2. 2.2. Health Insurance Cover for Self-Employed in France
3. 2.3. Health Cover for Cross Border Workers
4. 2.4. E121 Health Insurance Cover for Retired Persons
5. 2.5. Health Insurance Cover for Early Retirees
6. 2.6. European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)
7. 2.7. Travelling Abroad from France

2.1. E106 Health Insurance Cover in France

If you are proposing early retirement in France, or relocating to France to look for work, for those living within the European Economic Area (EEA) an 'E' form is in place to assist with free movement around the EEA.

The Form E106 is a certificate of entitlement to health care in another EEA country for a limited duration. The form and the health cover is provided courtesy of the social security authorities in your home country.

The form means that you will not need to pay French social security health service contributions for the duration of the E106, or until you enter employment, whichever is sooner.

When you arrive in France, you need to present the form to your local Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie (CPAM) who are the local French health authority.

Once you enter employment in France then the E106 ceases to be valid, and you need to start paying social security health contributions.

An E106 is also often issued to someone whose family relocates to France, whilst they continue working in the UK, more of which you can read about here.

The precise rules of eligibility of the E106 differ between countries within the EEA. These notes are written primarily for those arriving from the UK.

However, the entitlement to full E106 cover only applies if you have a satisfactory national insurance contribution record in the UK.

To assess your entitlement the UK authorities will examine your contribution record over the three full tax years prior to your departure. That is to say, if you were leaving the UK in 2009, the authorities would look at your contribution record for the three years ending 2008. You need to have paid sufficient contributions over this period.

Accordingly, if you have paid into the UK social security system for (say) 25 years, but you have not done so in recent years, you would not have any entitlement to cover from an E106! In these circumstances, until you find employment, you would need to take out private medical insurance.

Note also that it is 'full' tax years, so those contributions you pay in the year you leave the UK will not count in the initial calculation, although they would be taken into consideration if you had obtained a basic right to entitlement from previous years.

You may also be able to obtain an E106 if you are on short term incapacity benefit. Those on long-term incapacity benefit should make applicataion for an E121.

The precise duration of the E106 will also depend on when you vacate the UK, and few would get the full 2.5 year cover. Those with a full contribution record up to the point of their departure, and vacating the country mid way through the year, would normally be the only ones entitled to 2.5 years. The entitlement always run from January to January, ie January 2009 to January 2011.

The evidence suggests that self-employed persons tend to get a lot less than the full 2.5 years cover, it seems because of the way in which their national insurance contribution record is calculated.

If you are coming from the UK, and you are not working in France, the Form E106 is supplied by the Department for Work and Pensions, Pension Service, International Pension Centre, Tyneview Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE98 1BA. Telephone No: 0191 21 87777.

You can also write to them at: Department for Work and Pensions,The Pension Service,International Pension Centre, Tyneview Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE98 1BA, England

Our strong advice would be that you discuss your circumstances with them before you relocate to France, so you are entirely clear as to the duration of your E106 cover.