5th August 2008

After numerous dealings with the infamous French bureaucracy, I now have my 'carte vitale'. For those not familiar with the health service here, this is the golden key to enable you to use the health services. How it works is that, once you have your carte vitale the government pay 70% of all your health costs, whilst the patient finds the remaining 30%. In practice most people pay for 'top-up' insurance to cover this remaining bit. The monthly premiums for this are calculated according to your age at set-up. For me and him indoors, it amounts to 40 euros each a month - a price worth paying we thought. What I discovered is that it doesn't work like other insurance claims. There are no forms to complete. When you arrive at the hospital, you present your carte vitale and voila, everything else is sorted out. The hospital liaises with the top-up insurance company so that the patient doesn't do anything or pay anything. Just my kind of transaction!
The way insurance works elsewhere though is infuriating. I'm sure that insurance companies send their employees on special training courses to entice the unwary, then send them on special courses to learn how NOT to pay out! And governments collude with this practice by making so many insurances mandatory. Makes my blood boil. It would make more sense for everyone to keep their premiums under the mattress, ready for that once-in-a-lifetime crisis. Then, your money would be there - no forms to complete and no petty official to tell you that you didn't read the small print so they can't pay out. Hah! I've got their number. They can't fool me.