Health and Insurance

If you are covered by a public social security system in your home country, you can benefit from the European Union’s health insurance system by applying for your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC ) in your home country. Find all the details from the European Commission here. Your host establishment will ask you for a copy of your EHIC.

If you’re staying for an extended period (more than 5 months), you can register with the French social security system free of charge. See the tutorials below. Please note that the process can take up to 2 to 4 hours. As a result, Social Security is more suitable for students staying for longer periods (one year or more).

HEALTH INSURANCE :

Health cover through the EHIC or Social Security is limited, which means that you won’t get 100% reimbursement of your health expenses. Although healthcare is more affordable in France than in other countries, some expenses can be very expensive (surgery, specialized medicine, dental care, eye care…). It is therefore advisable to take out additional health cover for the duration of your stay. You can contact your usual insurer in your home country for information on its international coverage, or you can research options with companies specializing in insurance for international students.

Repatriation insurance :

In addition, coverage through your EHIC or French Social Security never includes repatriation coverage. We therefore STRONGLY ADVISE you to obtain such coverage before arriving in France.

For short-term stays (under 3 months)

When applying for a short-term visa, you will be asked to provide proof of international health/travel cover before leaving your country. This insurance must cover medical expenses and repatriation. You can obtain one from an insurance company in your home country.

For long-term stays (over 3 months)

When applying for a long-stay visa, some consulates may ask for proof of international health or travel coverage, others may not.

However, once you arrive in France, you will be required to register with the French health insurance scheme, Sécurité sociale.

What is Social Security?

Compulsory and free of charge, it reimburses your healthcare costs for the duration of your studies. (visits to doctors, specialists, hospitalization, etc.).

1. BEFORE YOU ARRIVE :

Before your arrival in France, you must gather the following documents in digital format. They will be required for your social security registration:

• Proof of identity (passport) ;
• Proof of civil status (birth certificate) ;
• A valid student visa .

2. UPON ARRIVAL:

As soon as you arrive in France and have obtained your certificate of enrolment in a higher education establishment, register on the dedicatedAssurance Maladie website– etudiant-etranger.ameli.fr and submit the main supporting documents:

• Proof of identity (passport) ;
• Proof of civil status (birth certificate, no translation required);
• A student visa (and confirmation if possible) or a valid residence permit;
• Proof of enrolment for the current academic year;
• An IBAN or RIB (bank account number)

We recommend that you submit your supporting documents all at once, as this will speed up the processing of your application. If any mandatory documents are missing, Social Security will not be able to validate your registration. As a result, you will not be able to validate your application. The Social Security registration process can take time. We therefore advise you to take out international health cover, until your French health insurance company has validated your registration and you are officially covered.

At the end of these steps, your personal space is created. You can access it using the e-mail address you provided when you registered.

3. DeS VALIDATION OF YOUR REGISTRATION (OR AFFILIATION),

Once you’ve submitted your documents to the French social security system, you’ll receive a provisional attestation d’affiliation, on which you’ll find your Social Security number. This means you’ll be covered for all health care needs.

Nevertheless, a few steps remain:

• Declare a doctor in France as your “médecin traitant” (attending physician) , and you’ll be better reimbursed (70% instead of 30%). The attending physician is the one who knows you best, because he/she treats you regularly; guides you through the coordinated care pathway (he/she is the privileged contact who will be able to redirect you to other healthcare professionals); manages your medical file by centralizing all information relating to your care; ensures personalized prevention with, for example, vaccination follow-up, screening examinations, help in quitting smoking… How do I find a GP? (see corresponding paragraph below)

• It’s important to be properly insured for hospitalization and even for routine care, because although the Assurance Maladie reimburses most of your healthcare costs, you still have to pay for some of them. That’s why it’s important to take out complementary health insurance. If you have a low income, with Complémentaire santé solidaire, you will no longer have to pay for these healthcare costs, in most cases.

4. FINALIZE YOUR REGISTRATION (OR AFFILIATION) TO BENEFIT FROM REIMBURSEMENTS

Once your application has been validated by the Assurance Maladie, you will receive your definitive attestation of affiliation with your Social Security number, and you will be required to :

• Ask for your Vitale card
• Create an account on Ameli.fr
• Use your Vitale card with healthcare professionals to get reimbursed more quickly and benefit from third-party payment. The Vitale card records your entitlements and simplifies the process of reimbursing your healthcare costs. With the Vitale card, you don’t have to pay for consultations or medication in advance: this is known as “tiers payant” (third-party payment).

For more information on the documents required for Social Security registration, please consult :

• Campus France dedicated page
• The Campus France tutorial
• You can consult the dedicated Social Security page

Any difficulties? You can contact the health insurance company via :

• Call 36 46 (free service + cost of call) Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. On request, you can be put in touch with a telephone advisor who can answer you in English and suggest an appointment.
• The ameli forum for general questions
• At your local your local health insurance office
• ameli.fr for information: news, rights and procedures, reimbursements, healthcare

WHAT IS COMPLEMENTARY HEALTH INSURANCE (OR MUTUELLE)?

Reimbursement of your healthcare costs through the French Social Security system remains limited, which means that you will only receive partial reimbursement of your healthcare expenses.

Although healthcare is more affordable in France than in other countries, some expenses can be very expensive (surgery, specialized medicine, dental care, eye care…), so we strongly recommend that you take out additional health cover for the duration of your stay.

You can research options with insurance companies specializing in international students in France, or you can contact any complementary insurance company.

You can subscribe complementary health insurance offers with our partners:

Repatriation insurance :

In addition, French Social Security coverage never includes repatriation coverage and it is therefore preferable to obtain this coverage through a complementary insurance.

Disclaimer: the above websites are for information purposes only. OMNES Education does not benefit financially from any of them and cannot be held responsible in the event of litigation or prejudice caused by the service providers listed above.

To find English-speaking doctors in Paris, you can consult the list provided by the U.S. Embassy.

Find below the doctors and pharmacists around the Eiffel campus

General Practitioners

Ophthalmologist

Pharmacies

Pharmacies open 24 hours a day

Paris Hospitals are listed on the website here

Hôpital Saint-Antoine 184 rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine 75012 Paris Telephone: 01 49 28 20 00

Hôpital Bichat-Claude Bernard 46 rue Henri-Huchard 75018 Paris Telephone: 01 40 25 80 80

Hôpital Lariboisière 2 rue Ambroise-Paré 75010 Paris Telephone: 01 49 95 65 65

Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou 20 rue Leblanc 75015 Paris Telephone: 01 56 09 20 00

Hôpital Cochin 27 rue du Faubourg Saint-Jacques 75014 Paris Telephone: 01 58 41 41 41

General practitioners
Dr Robin GAUZERAN 23 rue Ney 69006 Lyon Telephone: 04 86 86 03 86	Dr Alix HILLEN 41 rue Pré-Gaudry 69007 Lyon Telephone: 04 28 29 66 80	Dr Mélodie CARON 18 rue Bichat 69002 Lyon Telephone: 04 72 41 04 10	Dr David DANIELIAN 87 rue Bossuet 69006 Lyon Telephone: 04 78 24 77 41	Dr Florian Caillierez 64 rue Challemel-Lacour 69007 Lyon Telephone: 04 81 91 44 70

Pharmacies
Pharmacie Jean Macé 73 avenue Jean Jaurès, 69007 Lyon Telephone: 04 78 72 44 33	Grande Pharmacie Lyonnaise 22 rue de la République, 69002 Lyon 24 hours a day. Telephone: 04 72 56 44 00 Most affordable pharmacy for hygiene products.	La Pharmacie 16 rue de la Barre, 69002 Lyon Telephone: 04 78 37 78 71

Osteopath :
Cabinet Lyon Ouest 13 chemin du Petit Bois 69130 ECULLY Telephone: 04 78 66 12 34	Cabinet Lyon 7 Jean Macé 45 rue du Professeur Grignard Telephone: 69007 LYON 04 72 70 59 40	Cabinet Lyon Est 4 rue de la Doua 69100 VILLEURBANNE Telephone: 04 37 45 10 45

You can benefit from free osteopathic sessions, by appointment, Monday to Friday from 8am to 8pm and Saturday from 8am to 2pm.

Hospitals
Hôpital Edouard Herriot 5 place d’Arsonval 69003 Lyon Telephone: 0 825 08 25 69	Hôpital Lyon Sud 165 chemin du Grand Revoyet 69495 Pierre-Bénite	Hôpital de la Croix-Rousse 103 grande rue de la Croix-Rousse 69004 Lyon Telephone: 0 825 08 25 69

General practitioner

Dr Catherine Desenlis 31 rue de la jeunesse, 33700 Mérignac, France Telephone: 05.56.55.19.22

Dentist

Dr Yann Gombauld 8 rue de Ségur, 33000 Bordeaux Visit us here

Dermatologist

130 rue de Pessac, 33000 Bordeaux Telephone: 05.56.91.08.08

Psychologist

Marlène Biotteau Occupational psychologist & ergonomist. Burnout, harassment, stress, anxiety and depression 133 boulevard George V, 33800 Bordeaux Telephone: 06.68.71.18.77

Pharmacies
La Pharmacie des Capucins Open 24 hours a day. 30 place des Capucins 33800 Bordeaux Telephone: 05 56 91 62 66 contact@pharmacapucins.fr	Pharmacie des Grands Hommes 1 place des Grands Hommes, 33000 Bordeaux Telephone: 05.56.81.70.90	Aprium Pharmacie Bordeaux Lac Avenue des 40 Journaux, 33300 Bordeaux Telephone: 05.56.39.39.44

Hospitals
Pellegrin Hospital Place Amélie Raba Léon, 33076 Bordeaux Telephone: 05.56.79.56.79	CHU Saint-André Hospital 1 rue Jean Burguet, 33000 Bordeaux Telephone: 05.56.79.56.79

General practitioners
Dr Hugo FERRIOL 12 boulevard de la Mer Caspienne, 73370 Le Bourget-du-Lac Telephone: 04 79 75 78 17	Dr Sophie MOUREAU 12 boulevard de la Mer Caspienne, 73370 Le Bourget-du-Lac Telephone: 04 79 84 46 20	Dr Capucine MANGIN 12 boulevard de la Mer Caspienne, 73370 Le Bourget-du-Lac Telephone: 04 79 75 78 17

Dentist

Dr Gaëlle Habrard Cabinet dentaire du docteur Antonin Bats 12 boulevard de la Mer Caspienne, Savoie Technolac, 73370 Le Bourget-du-Lac Telephone: 04 79 65 79 73

Osteopath

Dr Sarah DESMARES Médilac 12 boulevard de la Mer Caspienne, 73370 Le Bourget-du-Lac Telephone: 07 61 35 25 10

Pharmacies
Pharmacie du Prieuré 182 route Nationale, 73370 Le Bourget du Lac. Telephone: 04 79 25 00 04	List of on-call pharmacies in Aix-Les-Bains by day (15 minutes from Chambéry)	Pharmacie de L’EPINE c.c. super u 75 rue lavoisier, la motte servolex, Telephone: 04 79 25 41 68	Pharmacie du Viviers du Lac 73 route d’Aix 73420 Viviers du Lac Telephone: 04 79 61 66 02	Pharmacie Aix les Bains Pavy 234 rue de Genève 73100 Aix les Bains Telephone: 04 79 35 03 70
Pharmacies open 24/7
Greater Chambéry

Hospitals
Chambéry Hospital Place Lucien Biset, 73000 Chambéry Telephone: 04 79 96 50 50	Grand Port Hospital – Centre hospitalier Métropole Savoie 49 avenue du Grand Port, 73100 Aix-les-Bains Telephone: 04 79 88 61 61	Médipôle de Savoie 300 avenue des Massettes, 73190 Challes-les-Eaux Telephone: 04 79 26 80 80