Is there a deadline to claim reimbursement of medical costs in France?

Reader Question: I had a medical appointment when I first moved to France and I did not have my carte Vitale (I had applied for one). The doctor gave me a paper slip and said this would help with getting the cost reimbursed. This was last year, is it too late to get the money back?

The note you are referring to is a feuille de soins, which is provided when a person does not have a carte Vitale on them, or a medical office is not able to scan your carte Vitale.

This note has information that can be submitted to your local Caisse primaire d'assurance maladie (social security office, or CPAM) for reimbursement. 

If you already have a social security number – for example, you forgot to bring your carte Vitale, or the medical office’s computer system is not working – all your details will already be on the feuille de soins. 

If you do not yet have a social security number, you can ask for a note and be reimbursed when you are signed up to France’s social security system. This is also the case for people who are attached to someone else’s social security number (children, spouses etc).

In this case, you will need to sign the feuille de soins yourself.

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How does the medical reimbursement process work in France? 

The feuille de soins can be sent to your local CPAM office (you can find the address for this on your Ameli healthcare account). You can either send it by post, or deliver it yourself. 

Reimbursements can be claimed up to two years from when the feuille de soins was issued.

Note this is also the same limit for reimbursement for medicines and prescriptions. 

The time limit is two years from the end of the first trimester after treatment started (for example, if the prescription was written on June 1, 2022, you have until September 1, 2024 to get reimbursed).

You can check the process of the reimbursement via your personal space on the Ameli website, in the ‘Mes démarches’ section and then ‘Consulter les délais de traitement de ma CPAM’. 

When you have a carte Vitale and it is read at your appointment the process is automatic. 

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