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Unhealthy fees in France - 3 September 2007

The dream of retirement in France harboured by thousands of British citizens could well be in jeopardy as plans to strip foreigners of subsidised state healthcare are brought into law. The new laws brought in by president Nicolas Sarkozy could mean that Britons who are already in France could face the prospect of huge medical bills.

Letters were sent out last week by the French social security ministry, leading to websites and helplines becoming inundated with enquiries from worried residents. The Sunday Times reported this week that the law is being allowed to seep in, and that the government is taking advantage of the less-confrontational attitude of the British expats. Larry Fulton, chief executive of Exclusive Healthcare, says, “If they were taking healthcare costs back from the French population they would burn the centre of Paris down.”

The issue for expat retirees is that they will either be faced with medical insurance bills possibly totalling over £2,000 per year, or will have to sell their properties in France and move back to the UK in order to qualify for NHS healthcare.

The new rules do not affect everybody, and some of the 202,000 British passport holders resident in France will find their benefits unchanged. From 30th September, anyone under the UK retirement age and not working will lose their right to French state healthcare once they have been in France for two years. Anyone already over retirement age will not be affected.

The Foreign Office has said is has not intervened, and experience shows that it is unlikely to do so in the case of civil law in another country. Healthcare provision across Europe for expatriates is somewhat patchy, and an issue that those buying overseas must consider. Spain is bringing in laws this year that EU citizens under retirement age have no automatic right to free healthcare outside of emergencies, while Greece offers no free care to foreign retirees.

For more on heath insurance overseas, listen to our Podcast now.

 

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