HEALTH IN FRANCE

by Anne Bréchet

 

 

The following information is based on the assumption that before leaving the UK holidaymakers have
obtained a European Health Insurance Card, free to
UK nationals for temporary visits to other EC countries.
Click here for more information.
Application forms are available from most
UK post offices, but for speed, you are
advised to apply online. Do this a few weeks ahead of your journey. The card remains valid for several years.
You need a separate one for each member of the family.
The EHIC covers you for about 80 per cent of medical costs in France (the same as for French nationals), so you will still need to top this up with extra travel insurance, or pay the difference. The EHIC does not
reimburse anything in connection with repatriation, personal liability, possessions, cancellation costs etc.

 

NOTE

The EHIC provides cover only for temporary visitors to France.
Permanent residents in
France must join the French health system, obtain a “Carte VItale”
and subscribe to a “mutuelle”, a complementary insurance policy that will pay
the 20% of medical charges not covered by the carte vitale.
See the Health section of the “Living France” magazine forum for much useful information on how to go about this.

 

 

WHAT TO DO WHEN...

 

There is a hospital emergency

 

The main county hospital for the Vendée is the Centre Hospitalier Départemental (CHD) at La Roche sur Yon.

A full list of its individual hospital departments and direct-line numbers is in the White Pages of the telephone book, in the La Roche sur Yon section.

The English page of the website for the hospital in Les Sables d’Olonne tells you what to do when arriving at A&E (“urgences”), which will be roughly the same procedure for other hospitals too. (NB The pages still refer to the E111 form, which has now been superseded by the EHIC.)

 

Hospitals in Vendée include:

 

Challans                               Centre Hospitalier Loire Vendée Océan               (02 51 49 50 00)

                                                Boulevard Guérin (near station), 85300 Challans

 

Fontenay le Comte            Centre Hospitalier                                                     (02 51 53 51 53)

                                                40, rue Rabelais, 85200 Fontenay-le-Comte

                                                Urgences (A&E), 11, rue Dr R Laforge, 85200 Fontenay-le-Comte

 

Ile d’Yeu                                  Hôpital                                                                        (02 51 26 08 00)

                                                17, impasse Louis Raymond, 85350 Port-Joinville

 

Luçon                                    Centre Hospitalier                                                     (02 51 28 33 33)

                                                41, rue Henri Renaud, 85407 Luçon

 

Montaigu                              Centre Hospitalier Georges Clemenceau            (02 51 45 40 00)

                                                54, rue St Jacques, 85600 Montaigu

 

La Roche sur Yon              Centre Hospitalier Départemental                          (02 51 44 61 61)

                                                Les Oudairies (NE of town), 85000 La Roche-sur-Yon

 

Les Sables d’Olonne         Centre Hospitalier Côte de Lumière                      (02 51 32 05 77)

                                                75, avenue d’Aquitaine, 85100 Les Sables-d’Olonne (English page)

 

St Gilles Croix de Vie           Hôpital                                                                        (02 51 60 83 00)

 

Complete listings of hospitals can be found in the Yellow Pages under Hôpitaux.

 

 

 

1.  IF AN ADULT HAS TO GO INTO HOSPITAL WHILE YOU ARE IN THE VENDEE:

 

This is about arrangements for an adult who has to be admitted to hospital.

 

After admission to the ward, take the patient’s European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) and passport to the Bureau des Entrées and register the patient. Normally the EHIC covers 80 per cent of treatment and there is a hotel charge of 16 euros per day. If you have holiday insurance, it should pay some or all of the remaining 20 per cent. If you have private medical insurance phone your company to see if you are covered for this event. About a month after discharge, you, or your insurance company will receive a bill for these charges.

 

If you have lost your EHIC, or forgotten to bring it with you, you should contact The Department of Social Security, Pensions and Overseas Benefits Directorate, Newcastle upon Tyne, England NE98 1BA (00 44 191 218 7547) and they will fax a form to you.

 

 

2.  IF YOUR CHILD GOES INTO HOSPITAL WHILE YOU ARE IN VENDEE:

 

This is about arrangements while you are staying in the hospital with your child, and about hospital charges.

 

The Children’s Department is “Service Pédiatrie”

 

At the beginning of your child’s stay you should take your EHIC and child’s passport to the Bureau des Entrées (Admissions) and register your child as a patient. Normally the EHIC covers 80 per cent of treatment and there is a “hotel” charge of 16 euros per day. If you have holiday insurance, it should pay some or all of the remaining 20 per cent. If you have private medical insurance phone your company to see if you are covered for this event. About a month after discharge, you, or your insurance company will receive a bill for these charges.

 

If you have lost your EHIC, or forgotten to bring it with you, you should contact The Department of Social Security, Pensions and Overseas Benefits Directorate, Newcastle upon Tyne, England NE98 1BA (00 44 191 218 7547) and they will fax a form to you.

 

Meals are available from the hospital while you are staying with your child, the hospital will explain how and where to get food, if necessary.  You will also have a bed to sleep in and shower facilities.

 

 

 

3. HOW TO PAY

 

Any bills for meals should be settled at the Bureau des Entrées on the ground floor when the person is discharged from hospital.

 

The hospital charges can be settled by cheque or card.

After you have paid send the receipt, duly completed, with a copy of your EHIC to the French Social Security Office (CPAM) which deals with you sector. They will liaise directly with the DSS in Newcastle and you will receive a cheque through the post in the UK.

 

Caisses Primaire d’Assurance Maladie (CPAM) in the Vendée

 

Challans                                CPAM, 4 boulevard René Bazin, 85300 Challans

(02 51 49 38 83)

 

Fontenay le Comte              CPAM, 2 boulevard Du Guesclin, 85200 Fontenay le Comte

(02 51 69 29 90)

 

Les Herbiers                          CPAM, 45 rue de Clisson, 85500 Les Herbiers

(02 51 91 09 09)

 

Luçon                                      CPAM, Cité André Biron, 85400 Luçon

(02 28 14 00 76)

 

La Roche sur Yon                  CPAM, rue Alain, 85000 La Roche sur Yon

(02 51 44 16 16)

 

Les Sables d’Olonne            CPAM, 18 rue Félix Faure, 85100 Les Sables d’Olonne

(02 51 32 06 26)

 

 

IF THE WORST HAPPENS
see the page on What to do when someone dies

 

 

 

 

Back to

Angela Bird’s Vendée website