CMU : Social Security Portal: Information Point 14/12/07
Contact: For all complementary information concerning your personal situation, contact the
CNAMTS (international telephone +33 (0)8 20 90 42 12) or
CLEISS +33 (0)1 45 26 33 41.
Please do not contact Exclusive Healthcare as we are not in a position to give a definitive answer to your questions. This document is a translation of the original French document and Exclusive Healthcare cannot accept responsibility for any errors occurring in the translation or printing. For a definitive answer to your questions you should ring the above numbers.
Question & Answer List:
Affiliation to the CMU for EU/EEA/Swiss nationals who are inactive, students or job seekers who reside or wish to reside in France
Why are the CMU affiliation rules being modified today for certain community nationals?
Like other EU countries, France is obliged to conform to the Community Directive No.2004/38/CE of 29 April 2004. This lays down the rules applicable as regards regularity of residence for community nationals. These rules have a direct impact on affiliation to CMU in France. This Directive has been transposed into the law of 24 July 2006 regarding immigration and integration and subsequently into the decree of 21 March 2007. Furthermore this transposition has been completed by the law of 5 March 2007 regarding the right to housing in order to deal with the situation of persons entering France to look for work.
Finally, circular No.DSS/DACI/2007/418 of 23 November 2007, published by the social security management, completes the transposition of the Directive by detailing certain matters regarding access to CMU. This circular came into force on the 23 November 2007.
How do these new rules about the right to residence affect affiliation to CMU in France?
The new conditions regulating the right to residence, embodied in the new European Directive have a direct effect on certain benefits. Perhaps the most noteworthy of these is access to basic CMU and complementary CMU.
What are the new conditions laid down by the European Directive concerning the right to residence?
According to the Directive 2004/38, for inactive community nationals, regularity of residence in a Member State other than their State of origin is subject to two criteria:
- possessing comprehensive health cover
- having sufficient resources so as not to become an unreasonable charge on the finances of the host State.
Therefore, an inactive community national who comes to reside in France cannot enjoy the right to reside if he does not have sufficient resources and health insurance
What happens if a community national does not fulfil these two conditions and falls ill?
When these two conditions are not fulfilled or are no longer fulfilled, such a person no longer benefits from the right of residence and is in an irregular situation. If he falls ill and has resided in France for less than 3 months, he benefits from “emergency treatment”. If he has resided in France for more than 3 months, he can benefit from State Medical Aid (AME) if he fulfils the conditions, notably that of having sufficient resources.
CMU:- who is affected by the changes?
Generally these rules apply to EU/EEA/Swiss nationals (subject to some special rules with regard to Switzerland) and to members of their family, whether the latter are or are not nationals of the aforementioned States.
Those affected are inactive persons and job seekers who have recently come to France and were not CMU beneficiaries on or before the 23 November 2007. In the future, all inactive persons and job seekers coming to France to reside will not have access to State health cover through CMU.
‘Inactive’ means every person who is not employed or self-employed and affiliated to the state system by virtue of such activity. ‘Job seeker’ means every person who has entered France to look for work and has not found it..
Will form E106 holders be able to benefit from CMU when their form’s validity expires?
No. Unlike community nationals who already benefit from CMU, form E106 holders do not have a right to CMU. It is therefore not possible to grant them access to CMU because they did not benefit from it beforehand.
Thus to continue to be in a situation of regularity when their form E106 expires, these persons must acquire health cover by other means.
Who is not affected by these CMU changes?
Community nationals who were CMU beneficiaries as at 23 November 2007 are not affected because, when their application for CMU was examined, the prior condition as regards their regularity of residence was fulfilled without conditions.
After their local CPAM has examined their file, these persons will continue to benefit from CMU.
What about students and retirees?
These two categories are covered by the Directive and therefore must have proper health cover.
Students will benefit from cover from their own member state or failing that, from French student social security if they are less than 28 years old.
Retirees, benefit from the health cover of the previous State in which they were employed - if they are in receipt of an old age pension from that same State and provided that pension entitles them to health treatment. The vast majority are entitled to the E121, which in common with other E forms is not affected.
How long must a community national spend in France in order to have the automatic right to CMU?
The new European Directive of 29/04/2004 specifies that, after 5 years of regular and uninterrupted residence in the host country, every community national acquires a right to permanent residence. This right to permanent residence after 5 years in France allows every community national to benefit from CMU.
This right to permanent residence is subject to examination by the service for foreigners in the Departmental Prefecture where the person resides.
What special circumstances can give rise to community nationals acquiring CMU before the expiry of the 5 year period of regular and uninterrupted residence?
When one or other of the conditions (sufficient resources, health cover) permitting regularity of residence of inactive community nationals is no longer fulfilled, this does not automatically result in the loss of the right to reside.
In fact, in certain circumstances and in particular if the community national is confronted with an “accident” (serious set-back) in life, a residual right to reside may exist for him and for members of his family and it will be possible to remain covered by CMU.
An “accident” in life: for example may be when a person is faced with an unforeseeable
circumstance which causes the loss of health cover for financial or medical
reasons, (separation from -or death of- a spouse, cessation of marital life, or the refusal of private health insurance for a serious illness, not foreseeable when changing residence………)
Contact: For all complementary information concerning your personal situation, contact the
CNAMTS (international telephone 33 (0)8 20 90 42 12) or
CLEISS 33 (0)1 45 26 33 41
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