Type 1 Moving or living in France

[Dave_christie]

Hello to all,
I am looking into relocating to the South of France with in a year or two, although i have tried to find my answers on the tinternet I haven't been successful. I'm worried as to how to go about getting insulin and all the other medication once I'm in France,
In France do diabetics pay for medication? do you pay for consultations with G.P's or specialist nurses? do they have as we do here diabetic clinics?
My plans are to be self employed once I'm there will this affect any medical related issues?

Many thanks in advance for any advice or useful links.

 

[phoenix]

People who are self employed in France pay contributions towards both medical expenses and for pensions. These cotisations + other taxes have traditionally been very high with set minimum charges even if you make little money in the early years (so something of barrier to people being able to start up businesses). They have tried to change this by introducing various schemes but it is complicated and I'm not really up to date on it.
I think that people on this forum may be able to offer some help http://services.completefrance.com/forums/completefrance-forums/cs/forums/201/ShowForum.aspx It is really important that you get things right .You also might want to see what happens on June 23rd,

I think most T1s go to specialist doctors which may be at a hospital or who may have an office elsewhere.You have to be initially referred by a GP or it can cost more. You can choose any doctor that you want to see and 100% of a fixed cost will be reimbursed for long term maladies such as diabetes.
The health service only pays 60-70% for my non diabetes related expenses so If I broke a leg, or had an infection that needed treatment I wouldn't get all my costs back .However, my complementaire or top-up insurance would pay the difference..(there are also small 50c and 1E charges for each visit or lab test and on each prescription.)

As well as paying cotisations, almost all people pay for a complementaire .Top-up insurance companies can't ask medical questions but premiums do rise with age (many companies are mutuelles, a bit like friendly societies and building societies used to be before privatisation)

I understand though that there some towns and cities where many specialists (and even GPs) charge higher fees than those the health care scheme has fixed. There are also more expensive policies which will pay 200%,300% or more of the official cost so covering these higher fees. I live in a rural, low income area and except for dentistry and glasses, I haven't found that was needed .I think though it maybe different in some of the more expensive areas in the South of France and also in Paris.

There are specialist nurses but the only one I know of in my area works in the hospital mainly on the ward. I do see her when I borrow a cgm every couple of years .She is also involved in diabetes 'education.'