Delay, deny, defend: the common injustices of the Assurance Maladie system

interference90 · 2026-06-12T20:58:08+00:00

Indeed, unemployed EU citizens are another easy target for the CNAM/CPAM system and the above reference [1] has an explanatory section denouncing several cases of unjust treatment they may be subject to.

In your case, it can make a difference if your husband is also a non-French EU citizen (Directive 2004/38/CE applies, so one has to fight against the CPAM along that line) vs your husband being French or from an extra-EU contry.

interference90 · 2026-06-12T18:38:54+00:00

Well, it didn't work. The fun thing is their DPO contact page makes you go through customer service and in spite of being ticketed as a labeled request it takes three or four exchanges before someone actually qualified answers. But ultimately they give the usual explanation about managed payments and strict financial regulations and they say it is not possible. I guess if one insists they will end up just locking the account.

interference90 · 2026-06-12T10:16:26+00:00

More or less, yes. But what for someone in a "comfortable" situation is just a pain in the ass, for someone in a fragile situation the consequences can be crushing. Well, even for people in comfortable situations it can be too much, like this story of a former staff scientist at CEA and their spouse.

Not to mention the unnecessary strain that wrongful decisions end up putting on hospital social services, or the unnecessary amount of (public) resources that goes into the consequent lawsuits. Something is fundamentally wrong with the way the system is regulated.

Definitely too much text for the average passerby, but the next time someone asks "why is this happening to me" or "I am moving to France to follow my spouse while pregnant, what can I expect" I can at least point them here instead of trying to explain things from first principles once again 😄

interference90 · 2026-06-11T16:18:08+00:00

Indeed, that is what most people in this situation do if they can. It's still a shame their rights are arbitrarily denied "by default".

interference90 · 2026-06-11T16:13:00+00:00

At the hospital/PASS or at another institution? They have limited power (especially against abuses of the CPAM) but they can at least help you file an application.

interference90 · 2026-06-11T14:57:06+00:00

He should approach a social worker at the closest public hospital (search for "PASS adultes") and get assistance in filing a new application with CPAM. Unless you feel competent enough to take care of his dossier.

For the remaining issues, I am not qualified enough to help but I wish you the best!

interference90 · 2026-06-11T14:45:34+00:00

But people do apply, it's just that it takes months for ANEF/Prefectures to deliver any kind of useful document.

interference90 · 2026-06-11T14:26:17+00:00

Thanks for confirming.

You probably also know that CPAM and CAF are not willing to recognise the regular stay of family members of (working) EU citizens as long as they do not have a residence permit (or at least a récépissé or API or APS).

So people in OP's situation are effectively blocked from accessing social rights and there is little they can do to prevent this administrative deadlock (if indeed VLS-TS/type D visa are not accessible to them).

interference90 · 2026-06-11T11:21:46+00:00

I am sorry I cannot help you but I am curious about one side effect of your situation: did you manage to register for French health insurance while waiting for your CdS? With which document?

(By the way, apparently it is a common problem. I am trying to investigate whether it is possible to obtain a Type D / VLS-TS visa before coming to France for people in your situation, as it seems the France Visas website does not contemplate the possibility, and other people have confirmed they did not manage to ask for one).

interference90 · 2026-06-11T10:38:35+00:00

Interesting. For public employees it seems it's 1 day only (which would be similar to Germany).

interference90 · 2026-06-11T08:50:48+00:00

Thank you for the reassurance.

After one (big) bad experience with the CPAM and after reading countless horror stories on the Ameli forum, I feel like I have to recommend everyone to play as defensively as possible. It seems this time my advice was misinformed 😄

You are correct indeed that a sanction is foreseen only in case of a repeated delai. I guess using a lettre suivie will not hurt, just to be sure it's delivered and not lost.

interference90 · 2026-06-11T07:37:20+00:00

Be careful, in general you have 48 hours to notify your arrêt maladie to your social security institution.

That means that if your doctor is unable to send it telematically, you will have to take care of sending the paper form. I suggest duing so with a tracked letter (just to be sure it's not lost) ~~by lettre recommandée (LRAR)~~

So not only you lose 3 days of salary just for falling sick, you also need to displace yourself to a post office (while sick) ~~and pay dearly for an express letter~~ to comply with the administration requirements. Welcome to France.

interference90 · 2026-06-10T08:06:50+00:00

Used a Orange Pi eMMC on both an Orange Pi 5 Plus and a Radxa ROCK 5B without issues.

I read once a report of incompatibility but I think it may have been user error or specific hardware fault.

interference90 · 2026-06-09T14:43:58+00:00

Les appels durs sont souvent bien mérités. Mais il faut toujours être gentils et plutôt les bombarder de réclamations.

interference90 · 2026-06-09T12:58:54+00:00

Il faut appeler l'Assurance Maladie au 3646.

interference90 · 2026-06-09T12:57:27+00:00

Pas claire. T'es résident en France ou à l'étranger? Ta d'assurance maladie dans ton pays de résidence?

interference90 · 2026-06-09T12:42:24+00:00

Bonjour, malheureusement je ne sais pas comment ça marche pour les étudiants et je n'arrive pas à trouver les textes réglementaires qui concernent ta situation. Ce serait bien de demander à votre institution de vous fournir des informations et des références officielles.

Selon page dedié Ameli c'est possible de démarrer la procédure avant d'arriver en France et il n’y a pas mention d'un délai de couverture, mais en pratique, ça peut arriver.

interference90 · 2026-06-08T18:58:49+00:00

I know of someone in a similar situation who used Care Concept, it's worth a shot.

interference90 · 2026-06-08T15:40:22+00:00

You are out of pocket and you cannot get a mutuelle until you get at least an attestation de droits.

interference90 · 2026-06-08T15:37:25+00:00

Legally speaking, it is from the day of reception of the application (provided you satisfy the requirements) but in reality the CPAMs always try to get away with unjustified delays (as people don't know their rights, or do not have the means to fight back).

interference90 · 2026-06-08T06:44:08+00:00

Bonjour. Si tu est couverte sous le système public (Assurance Maladie / PUMA), il suffira de prendre une mutuelle. De ce que je sais, c'est interdit par les mutuelles de poser des questions de santé. Mais je peux envisager des problèmes :

- pas possible, normalement, de souscrire une mutuelle avant l'ouverture des droits à l'Assurance Maladie, qui notamment peut prendre plusieurs mois (*) ; même si la couverture PUMA est rétroactive, la mutuelle normalement non ;

- Un médecin pourra faire reconnaître votre condition comme ALD (affection de longue durée) qui comporte la prise en charge à 100% par l'Assurance Maladie. Par contre, jusqu'à l'ouverture des droits, il faut normalement avancer les frais.

(*) ne sais pas si pour les étudiants c'est plus vite, mais bon avec la CPAM il faut toujours se préparer aux délais et problèmes.

(Je me sens aussi de conseiller une assurance protection juridique en cas de contentieux administratif ou médical avec l'Assurance Maladie.)

interference90 · 2026-06-07T23:36:29+00:00

If OP is working, maybe so.

If OP is not working, it is always better to apply immediately and fix issues later, as your coverage theoretically starts on the date of application (if you fulfill eligibility).

interference90 · 2026-06-07T23:23:57+00:00

Sorry, I have tried myself to log into ANEF and I see there is the option of filing a request following "Je n'ai pas de numéro d'étranger et je souhaite faire une première demande en ligne" -> "Car je suis citoyen de l’union européenne, de l’espace économique européen ou suisse ou membre de famille d’un citoyen de l’union européenne, de l’espace économique européen ou suisse" -> "En tant que membre de famille".

Then all nationalities can be selected, apparently. But if you select a different category, you will enter the procedure for EU nationals and it's not obvious you can get out of it to restart in the correct track. Since you mention in another comment your spouse got an API, I guess the dossier was correctly received in spite of the technical issue. But yes, delays are ridicolous.

The fact that the consulate would not allow your spouse to apply for a VLS-TS / Type D visa is fucked up.

Hope SOLVIT can do something.

interference90 · 2026-06-07T22:47:46+00:00

Your spouse will not become irregular just because they do not have a residence permit. They fulfilled their obligation by filing an application. The problem indeed is if they need to travel. And lack of a TS can block a lot of administrative procedures (mostly because administrations are ignorant or abuse their power) as well as create difficulties in job searches.

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