Carte Vitale

[nick86]

Hi,

I am currently working in France for 6 months (of which I have already completed 3) as an intern. Normally I live in the UK, for my studies, and I am a British citizen (note that before university I never lived in the UK - although as far as I know that is not relevant to this issue).

The company I work for pays me 600 euros/month as a 'salary', plus 200 euros/month as an indemnite de logement. Deducted from this is a cotisation securite sociale vieillesse and a cotisation securite sociale maladie. Both of these are based on a quantite de base of 187 euros, for a reason I don't understand (I don't know why it's not the full 600 euros of my salary) but is apparently a function of French law.

Yesterday I went to the local CPAM to apply for a Carte Vitale, and I was told that because I am a British citizen and have a European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), I am not entitled to a Carte Vitale.

This brings up a couple of questions...:

1) Am I actually covered by my EHIC card while I am here? I am a resident in France (I have no address in the UK and have no family in the UK - my home address is my current one in France), and from what I have read in order to be reimbursed for any health care here, I need to apply a) before I return to the UK and b) I need to have a home address in the UK.

2) If I am NOT covered by my EHIC card, am I entitled to a Carte Vitale or not?

3) If I AM covered by my EHIC card, am I still entitled to a Carte Vitale? I am paying the contribution after all...

4) If I am NOT covered by my EHIC card (since I'm not a UK resident) and NOT entitled to a Carte Vitale, if I have an accident what insurance/health system would I be covered by - or do I just slip through the cracks of all systems?

Sorry for the long post and thanks for any help you can give me!

In the meantime I think I'll live my life a little more carefully than I have in the last 3 months, just in case it turns out I'm not actually insured for anything...