Search Sort Posts:  Oldest to newest Newest to oldest

11/05/2008, 9:08 Logan Joined on 23/08/2004 Posts 731 Re: Is top-up health insurance really necessary?  sweet 17 wrote: I don't think you realise that some of us don't "cost" out everything and want our money back just because we have paid. As with contributions to the NHS, I was happy to pay and not use the service.  Can you not see that, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde, you might know the cost of everything and the value of nothing? To me, there is an intrinsic value and justice in paying into a pot and then drawing out only the amounts that I need.  I'd rather pay, enjoy good health and let other poor souls benefit from the money that I have paid in and do not want or need.  Well sweet 17 you are entitled to be generous to others with your resources if you wish. I support personal choice in all things. I also like the principal that France allows us to choose if we have a mutuelle or not. The country is a very high tax society and seeking value for the disposable part of our income is for me a priority. Contributing to the profits of assurance companies is not. The 'value of anything' is very much a subjective principle. I value self help and incentive and taking responsibility for our own lives. The government is responsible for the health of the nation through the large slice of taxation we already pay. A mutuelle is just in reality more taxation which you don't really need to pay. It is not the same as house insurance or any other risk cover. Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. (Horace).    Report

11/05/2008, 10:17 Keith CHANNING Joined on 22/11/2007 northern Puy-de-Dôme Posts 52 Re: Is top-up health insurance really necessary?  Logan wrote: It is not the same as house insurance or any other risk cover. Which is, of course, fine if you know you will always have a few thousand Euros available for your portion of the expensive treatment - usually at the most inconvenient possible time. For the rest of us it is, like most non-mandated insurance, trading a known, regular outgoing for an unknown (in time and amount) occasional outgoing that could be difficult or impossible to meet. For some the former makes sense, for others the latter. If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. - Carl Sagan http://www.beaugut.com    Report

11/05/2008, 11:36 Logan Joined on 23/08/2004 Posts 731 Re: Is top-up health insurance really necessary?  Keith CHANNING wrote: For some the former makes sense, for others the latter. I agree Keith but for those on low incomes the state pays 100% of the costs not just the tarif de convention. If you pay a mutuelle why not set aside the premiums instead in a savings account on a monthly basis. Livret A is tax free up to a reasonable figure. Then you have the cash if it's needed. Example - Break a leg and require hospitalisation. Cost say 800 euros. State pays 70%, you pay 240 euros. That is on average 2-3 months premiums. Unless you are very unlucky I doubt you would need that more than once or twice in a lifetime. If you have a heart attack and require more hospitalisation it's life threatening therefore costs are paid by the state. I could give more examples but in essence the amounts paid out by a mutuelle contract are small. Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. (Horace).    Report

11/05/2008, 12:16 spg Joined on 23/08/2004 Southern Morbihan 56 Posts 1,067 Re: Is top-up health insurance really necessary?  Logan wrote: I could give more examples but in essence the amounts paid out by a mutuelle contract are small. Where you can break even with a mutuelle is if you need to take a number of medications, as does my OH following insertion of a stent during an angioplasty. He takes 3 tablets a day and our share of the cost is 45 euros a month after CPAM's contribution. This is because we only have hospitilisation cover at the moment so no cover for drugs. We are thinking of swapping to 100% cover for him as this will give give him greater cover for his drugs and in general, and re the dentist and the optician in particular, than hospitilisation alone does. Sue Computing - it's another world    Report

11/05/2008, 13:43 Gastines Joined on 23/08/2004 Les Gastines.St.Pere 5mins St.Malo Posts 798 Re: Is top-up health insurance really necessary? I suppose if you had just paid a couple of months premiums on your house,your top up health cover and car insurance you would be in a better financial position than those who think they can save for 10-20 years to pay any hospital/car repair and house rebuild costs especially if you came home to find the house on fire,the shock gave you a heart attack your wife crashed the car rushing you to the hospital and broke her leg preventing you from going on your world cruise. Sometimes fires and accidents don't wait untill you are in a strong financial position.That might be worth taking into your calculations.Having had 3non-insured drivers prang cars of mine,I do feel that insurance is what it says on the tin INSURANCE. Regards.    Report

11/05/2008, 13:57 Patf Joined on 23/08/2004 SW Gers Posts 2,131 Re: Is top-up health insurance really necessary? Logan - the example of the heart attack. The cost was  covered only 70%, for some reason. Possibly because it was done via SAMU, not the medecin traitante. The hip replacement was covered 100%.    Report

11/05/2008, 19:48 NormanH Joined on 10/04/2008 Posts 179 Re: Is top-up health insurance really necessary?  Patf wrote: Logan - the example of the heart attack. The cost was  covered only 70%, for some reason. Possibly because it was done via SAMU, not the medecin traitante. The hip replacement was covered 100%. I have already stated that I believe Logan's premise that 'life threatening' conditions are automatically covered at 100% to be incorrect. This seems to back that up. I stand to be corrected if someone can quote from the http://www.ameli.fr/  site where Logan's idea is stated. If I am right it tips the balence of the argument back the other way if you might have to meet 20% of a serious operation and aftercare    Report

12/05/2008, 9:55 Logan Joined on 23/08/2004 Posts 731 Re: Is top-up health insurance really necessary? My understanding is that the consultant in charge of a particular case of hospitalisation will certify the condition to be either life threatening or not. This then is related to the percentage the state will fund. It's hard to imagine a heart attack case not being regarded as life threatening. However when it comes down to a particular doctors opinion, differences are inevitable. Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori. (Horace).    Report

12/05/2008, 15:01 osie Joined on 17/12/2007 South West France Posts 62 Re: Is top-up health insurance really necessary? The pro's and ***'s of life insurance is something that has gone round and round in my mind for years, much of which has been already discussed in the previous messages. My summary is that mandatory insurance is generally worth it as if the country has deemed it mandatory that it probably is a good idea.. i.e. house insurance Other insurances play on the fears of people and sometimes those people benefit financially and most times they are for the comfort factor... all good reasons to take it out. My opinion is that it is better to put money aside rather than to give it to a profit making company to put on their side.  However, this normally simple task is quite tricky for most.  Therefore insurance companies exist... and the world goes round. p.s. I have not yet got a top-up although I regularly re-access the variables. thanks osie www.le-murier.com    Report

Page 3 of 5 (41 items) < 1 2 3 4 5 >

France Forum » Living » Health » Re: Is top-up health insurance really necessary?

(Quick links) Forums Home |- Search Forums |- Active Topics |- Unanswered Posts User Options |- Sign In |- Join this community |- Forgot Password About This Forum (READ ONLY) |- About This Forum Moving |- Finding/Owning French Property |- Making the Move From Outside the EU |- Long-Term Letting |- Employment Vacancies in France Legal and Finance |- French Legal Issues |- French Finance Building and Renovation |- House Renovations |-- Working with Wood Living |- Earning a Living |- Driving |- French Education |- Pets |- Animal Welfare, Rescue & Protection |- French Satellite TV, French Internet and Telephone |- Health |-- Changes to Healthcare Entitlement, CPAM, CMU and Cartes Vitales |- Swimming Pools in France Owning/Running a Business |- French Artisans |- Gite Owners |- Hotel and Restaurant Owners |- B&B/Chambres d'Hôtes Owners Leisure and Pastimes |- Gardening |- Sport, Leisure and Pastimes |- Shopping |- French Antiques, Arts & Crafts |- Photography |- Motorcycling in France |- Books and Literature |- Getting Married in France |- Pregnancy and Birth French Culture |- French Food and Wine |- French Culture |- French Language |-- French Language FAQs and Useful Links |- Wildlife/Nature/Environment |- French History Travelling to/from France |- Travelling to/from France |- Latest Good Value Deals to/from France Holidays |- Holidays General Discussion |- The Complete France Post Bag |- The Lighter Side |- Other Topics |- Forum Technical Support |- Useful Links About France/French Living Regions |- HOTEL SEARCH |- Central |- North East |- North West |- Paris Ile de France |- South East |- South West |- East |- West |- Corsica and DOM-TOMs