Healthcare in Paris: the GHIC, the S1, PUMa and a mutuelle

French healthcare is excellent, but it isn't free at the point of use like the NHS, and once you live here the GHIC is no longer your ticket in.

The short version

• The UK GHIC is for people who live in the UK. It covers medically necessary state care on a visit, not life after you move [2].
• Residents join French state healthcare, PUMa, after three months of stable residence. Workers are registered through their employer [1][3].
• UK State Pensioners living in France usually get cover through an S1, registered with the local CPAM, so the UK pays [1].
• The state reimburses part of each bill. Most people add a mutuelle (top-up insurance) to cover the rest [1].
• Paris has two well-known non-profit hospitals with British and American roots: the Hôpital Franco-Britannique in Levallois-Perret and the American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly [5][6].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = EUR 1.20).

Visiting vs living here

The rules depend on where you live, not on your passport.

The NHS is clear that the GHIC "is not a replacement for travel insurance" [2]. If you've been coming to Paris as a visitor and are now moving over for good, our guide to Brits in the EU after Brexit and the 90/180-day rule explains where the line falls.

The S1 for UK State Pensioners

If you get a UK State Pension (or another exportable UK benefit) and live in France, the UK can pay for your French healthcare through an S1 [1]. It's the best deal going for retirees: you're covered like a French pensioner without paying contributions into the French system.

1. Request your S1 by phone from NHS Overseas Healthcare Services on +44 (0)191 218 1999, Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm and Saturday 9am to 3pm [1].
2. Register it with your local CPAM (caisse primaire d'assurance maladie). In Paris that's the CPAM de Paris. Dependants may be classified differently in France, so check their position too [1].
3. Wait for your social security number and attestation de droits. Then apply for your carte Vitale (more below).
4. Keep it current. A new S1 may be sent to your registered address and must also be registered, and you must report changes of address or circumstances [1].

One trap: if you're covered as the dependant of a State Pensioner, your cover on their S1 ends when you start claiming your own State Pension, so you'll need your own [1]. If registration drags and you need urgent care, call NHS Overseas Healthcare Services [1]. Our guide to the NHS when you live abroad and the S1 covers who qualifies.

PUMa: joining the French system

PUMa (protection universelle maladie) is French state healthcare for everyone who lives in France legally and stably. You can apply once you've lived here for more than three months [1][3].

If you work, your employer starts your registration through its online portal before your first day, and you apply for your social security number at your CPAM as soon as you start. The FCDO suggests buying private health insurance to cover the gap [1].

If you don't work and have no S1, you apply yourself on form Cerfa 15763 with proof of identity, residence and three months' stay; bills in your name help prove the last one [3].

What happens next, according to the FCDO [1]:

1. A temporary social security number arrives by post, usually after one to three months.
2. You get an attestation de droits à l'assurance maladie, confirming your cover and number.
3. You apply for your carte Vitale, the green health card. This can take six months or longer.
4. Until the card arrives, you pay the doctor and claim the refund using your social security number and a paper feuille de soins.

The PUMa contribution for people living off investments

Most people pay for PUMa through payroll contributions or are exempt as pensioners. But if you live in France with very little earned income and a fair amount of capital income (dividends, interest, rent), you may owe the cotisation subsidiaire maladie, collected by Urssaf. For 2025 it was charged at 6.5% on capital income above EUR 23,550 (about £19,620), and only where earned income was below EUR 9,420 (about £7,850) [3]. State pensioners, registered jobseekers and students are among those exempt [3]. The thresholds move every year with the French social security ceiling, so check the current figures, and a tax adviser who knows both countries can check your case.

What it costs, and the mutuelle

This is the big difference from the NHS. In France you usually pay at the surgery or pharmacy, and the CPAM pays a share back into your bank account. Carry your carte Vitale to every doctor, pharmacy or specialist visit [1]; with it, the refund is processed electronically and usually arrives quickly. You also need to register a GP as your médecin traitant; seeing doctors without going through your GP gets you a smaller refund.

The state doesn't repay everything. The gap is covered by a mutuelle (complémentaire santé), a top-up policy that pays all or part of what the state doesn't [1]. Employers in France must offer one to staff, and many cover part of the premium. If you're retired or self-employed, you buy your own; premiums rise with age and with how generous the cover is for dental work, glasses and hospital rooms. The FCDO points to ameli.fr for current refund rates [1].

You also need health cover to live here at all: some residence applications and visas need proof of it before they're approved [1]. Our guide to Carte Vitale and mutuelle goes into the detail.

Doctors and hospitals in Paris

Paris has plenty of GPs, specialists and big public hospitals run by the AP-HP, the Paris hospitals trust. Two non-profit hospitals with Anglo roots are often the first stop for Brits who want to be seen in English:

• Hôpital Franco-Britannique, historically known in English as the Hertford British Hospital, part of the Cognacq-Jay foundation. It has two sites in Levallois-Perret, at 4 rue Kléber and 3 rue Barbès. It's a private non-profit hospital in the public-service network (ESPIC), works at standard social security rates in secteur 1 with no extra doctors' fees, and charges more only for extras such as a private room [5].
• American Hospital of Paris, a private non-profit hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine founded in 1906 [6]. As a private hospital, many of its doctors charge above state rates, so check what your mutuelle or private policy will pay before you book.

The FCDO keeps a page of medical facilities in France, but its downloadable list of hospitals in Paris, Marseille and Bordeaux dates from December 2020, so treat it as a starting point and check details directly [4].

For a GP who speaks English, Doctolib, the booking app most French doctors use, shows the languages each practitioner speaks. Many younger Paris doctors get by in English, but the forms and letters will be in French.

Emergencies, pharmacies and practical bits

• Emergencies: dial 15 for the SAMU (medical emergencies) or 112, the European emergency number. For a hospital A&E, look for urgences.
• Pharmacies (the green cross) are the first stop for minor ailments, and out of hours a pharmacie de garde is on duty on a rota.
• Bring your records. Ask your UK GP for a summary of your history and repeat prescriptions before you go; French doctors will want to see them.
• Going back to the UK? If the NHS funds your French care through an S1, contact the NHS Overseas Healthcare Team to cancel it [4].

People in our community group for Brits in France swap names of English-speaking GPs and dentists and tips on how long the CPAM is taking in Paris.

Sources

1. GOV.UK (FCDO): Healthcare for UK nationals living in France
2. NHS: Apply for a free UK Global Health Insurance Card (GHIC) (reviewed 12 December 2023)
3. Connexion: Puma, France's universal healthcare scheme (updated 15 May 2026)
4. GOV.UK (FCDO): France – medical facilities and Living in France (last updated 2 October 2026)
5. Cognacq-Jay Santé: Hôpital Franco-Britannique
6. American Hospital of Paris

Keep reading

• Carte Vitale and mutuelle: getting into French healthcare
• Moving to Paris as a Brit: visa and residence routes
• The NHS when you live abroad (and the S1 for pensioners in the EU)
• The UK State Pension abroad: frozen or uprated?