Contents of article "Complementary health insurance"
How to obtain the maximum refund for your medical expenses
How to obtain the maximum refund for your medical expenses
Our health has surely got to be the most important thing in our lives and yet those of us who live, holiday or intend to settle in France, are not always clear on the very complex issues of financing health cover, or the enormous bills awaiting us if we are not fully covered.
In this month’s French Life article, Yves Mirales of the Roussillonnaise explains to us the importance of the complémentaire santé – supplementary health insurance - and the origins and utility of the La Roussillonnaise, a ‘mutuelle’ or non profit making health insurance group.
What is a ‘mutuelle’?
A mutuelle is a non profit making organisation offering complementary health insurance (complémentaire santé), owned by, and run for the benefit of, its members in that it has no external shareholders and does not usually look to making profits or capital gains.
What is a ‘complémentaire santé’ ?
A complémentaire santé is a policy which reimburses some or all medical costs not covered by the Social Security. This extra insurance is by no means obligatory but strongly recommended, as certain medical care, such as hospitalisation, use of a private room, dental and optical treatments, ambulance costs, is expensive and refunded only minimally or not at all by the basic health insurance. Depending on the policy chosen, some or all of the remaining percentage NOT reimbursed by the state is covered by your complémentaire santé. This can be an enormous amount if you are hospitalised or need emergency treatment.
La Roussillonnaise is the largest mutuelle in the Pyrénées-Orientales, and offers a range of complementary health cover, adaptable to the individual, along with all the advantages and practical support of a large company. It is neither private insurance, nor state run – rather somewhere in the middle – and members ‘contributions’ return directly ‘into the pot’ where they are reinvested to fund reimbursement of medical treatment, creation and maintenance of their own clinics, optical and dental centres, radiology departments……
The very fact that it is a non profit making organisation, means that premiums are likely to be a good deal cheaper than private medical insurance.
La Roussillonnaise provides……..
- Carte plume – an advantage card giving reductions for services, shops and restaurants around the region
- Home help (depending on your policy)
- Their own optical and hearing care shops, and radiology centre
- Immediate refunds in chemists and Roussillonnaise-owned centres (no payment needed)
- Individually tailored policies for both private and professional
For more information about this important ‘top-up’ health insurance, e mail contact@la-roussillonnaise.com with your contact details and an English speaker will call back to answer your queries, or visit you at home.
La Roussillonnaise
3, Bd Wilson
BP 89921
66866 Perpignan
CEDEX 9
Tel : 0 810 0 810 66
contact@la-roussillonnaise.com
www.la-roussillonnaise.com
Useful phrases
Je voudrais me renseigner sur les complémentaires santé
(Chuh voodray muh ron-sen-yay sure lay complay-mentair sontay)
would like to find out about complementary health insurance
Pouvez vous me passer à (m’envoyer) quelqu’un qui peut m’expliquer les garanties santé ?
(Poovay voo muh passay ah (monvoy-ay) kelkurn key puh mexpleekay lay garuntee sontay ?)
Could you put me through to (send round) someone who can explain the complementary health insurance policies
