"Health care is expensive!" False! With the right information you can have affordable health care

No matter which health professional you see, from general practitioners to specialists, hospitals and pharmacies, this will involve health expenses, and aside from some cases of hospitalization which are 100% covered by the Assurance Maladie, health expenses are almost always split in two parts:

1. The so-called "mandatory" portion ("part obligatoire"): this portion is covered by the Assurance Maladie;
    
2. The co-payment, also called "ticket modérateur": this is the portion you will have to cover yourself, so be sure to read the following paragraphs!
   
   

► If you are seeing a health professional (gynecologist, ophthalmologist, optician, dentist, etc.), you may take out supplementary health insurance with a supplementary health insurance plan or a health mutual: you will pay an annual contribution to these organizations, and in return they will cover the co-payment, in part or in full, depending on the plan you have chosen.

► If you regularly see a health professional but you cannot afford supplementary health insurance within your budget, you have two options:

The “Aide au paiement d’une complémentaire santé” (ACS, assistance to purchase supplementary health insurance) is a program designed to help you pay for a supplementary health insurance with a supplementary health insurance plan or a health mutual. If you are eligible for this program (you can check now at info-acs.fr), you will receive a check to give to your supplementary health insurance company, which will reduce the rate of your yearly membership fee.

The “Couverture maladie universelle complémentaire” (supplementary universal health coverage) will provide you with a free supplementary health insurance plan. To find out if you are eligible for the CMU-C and to submit an application, go to the cmu.fr website!