Doctors, insurance and emergencies in Paris

Assurance Maladie and the carte Vitale

Residents working in France are covered by the statutory system, administered through the CPAM. Once registered you receive a carte Vitale, the green chip card that automates reimbursement — you present it at the appointment and the refund arrives in your account within days without any paperwork. Until it arrives you pay in full and claim back on a feuille de soins, which is slower but works.

• Your employer starts the process; follow it up through your Ameli account.
• The carte Vitale takes weeks to months; keep every receipt in the meantime.
• EU arrivals can use the EHIC in the gap before registration.

The médecin traitant and the parcours de soins

You should declare a médecin traitant — a nominated GP — with Assurance Maladie. Going through them is what keeps reimbursement at the full rate; seeing a specialist directly without a referral drops it substantially, with defined exceptions for gynaecology, ophthalmology and a few others. Doctors are classed by sector: secteur 1 charge the regulated tariff, secteur 2 may charge above it, and the excess is not reimbursed by the state.

• Declare the médecin traitant on a simple form signed by the doctor.
• Secteur 1 doctors charge the regulated fee; secteur 2 dépassements d'honoraires are yours or your mutuelle's to cover.
• Doctolib is the standard booking platform for almost every practitioner in Paris.

The mutuelle

Statutory cover reimburses most but not all of a consultation, and considerably less of dental work, glasses and hospital extras. A complémentaire santé, universally called a mutuelle, covers the balance. Employers in France are legally required to offer a group mutuelle and to fund at least half of it, so the employer scheme is normally both cheaper and better than anything you would buy individually.

• Employer mutuelles are subsidised by law — check what yours covers before buying your own.
• Dental and optical cover is where mutuelle policies differ most.
• Tiers payant means the pharmacy or practitioner bills the system directly and you pay nothing up front.

Pharmacies and emergencies

Pharmacies are marked by a green cross, pharmacists advise widely, and each area runs a pharmacie de garde rota for nights and Sundays. 15 reaches the SAMU medical emergency service, 112 works as the general European emergency number, and SOS Médecins makes home visits for urgent but non-critical problems, which is often faster than a hospital urgences department.