Travel insurance and medical costs in France

1. Why costs work differently for a visitor

France runs a public health insurance system for its residents, funded by social contributions. Residents present a chip card, the carte Vitale, and much of the cost is settled directly between the doctor and the insurance fund. A visitor has neither the card nor a French insurance number, and that changes the sequence rather than the price: you pay the practitioner at the time of the consultation, and you claim afterwards — from a European health card scheme, from your travel insurer, or from your own national scheme.

None of this prevents you from being seen: no French social security number is required, no registration with a French doctor, and no practitioner will ask for proof of insurance before examining you.

What the paperwork looks like. When the carte Vitale is not used, the doctor fills in a paper form called a feuille de soins, or issues an invoice. Either way, the document that matters carries four things: the practitioner's name, their RPPS number — the unique identifier every doctor legally practising in France holds — the date, and the amount paid. An insurer that refuses a claim usually does so because one of those four is missing, not because the care was not covered.

2. What a consultation costs

French doctors are classified in tariff sectors, and that classification explains why two consultations in the same street can be billed differently.

Sector 1 doctors apply the regulated tariff negotiated between the profession and the health insurance system. For a standard general practitioner consultation in metropolitan France, that regulated tariff is €30 as of January 2026.

Sector 2 doctors may set their own fees above the regulated tariff. The difference is called a dépassement d'honoraires, an excess fee. It is entirely legal, it varies from one practitioner to another, and it matters to you because reimbursement schemes are generally calculated on the regulated tariff rather than on what you actually paid — so the excess tends to stay with you.

You are entitled to know beforehand. Fees must be displayed in the waiting room, and a practitioner must tell you the amount before an act above a certain value. Online booking platforms usually show the sector and the fee on the practitioner's profile. Asking the price when you book is normal and nobody will find it rude.

Video consultation services work the same way on this point: the fee is shown before you confirm the booking, so you know the amount before anything is charged.

3. The European card, and the UK card

Who can use one. If you are covered by the social security system of an EU member state, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland, the European Health Insurance Card — the EHIC, CEAM in French — applies during a temporary stay in France. Visitors from the United Kingdom hold the equivalent Global Health Insurance Card, the GHIC; existing UK EHICs remain usable until the expiry date printed on the card.

What it does. It entitles you to the medically necessary care that cannot wait until you go home, on the same terms as a person insured in France. It is not a discount card and not a payment card: it establishes that you belong to a scheme with which France settles accounts.

How it works in practice. Show the card to the practitioner or to the hospital. In most cases you will still advance the cost and then claim: either from the local caisse — the health insurance fund of the place where you were treated, while you are still in France — or, if you did not do it during the stay, from your own institution once you are home, on presentation of the French documents. Keep every original.

What it does not do — this is where travellers are caught out:

• it does not cover repatriation — being flown home after a serious illness or accident is not part of it, at any price;
• it does not cover care in the private sector outside the public system; it works with providers operating within it;
• it does not cover planned treatment — travelling to France in order to be treated there follows an entirely different procedure;
• it does not cover the share a French resident would pay themselves, nor an excess fee charged by a sector 2 practitioner.

The European Commission and the UK health service say it in almost the same words: the card is not a substitute for travel insurance. The gap between the two is where the expensive surprises live.

4. Travel insurance: what to check before you leave

Policies differ far more than their marketing suggests. Six points decide whether yours will actually help.

The medical expenses ceiling. Look at the figure, not at the reassuring adjective. A ceiling that looks generous for a consultation can be modest against a few days in hospital.

Direct billing or reimbursement. Some insurers settle directly with the provider; most reimburse you afterwards. If yours reimburses, you need to be able to advance the money — that is a cash-flow question, not an insurance question, and it is worth knowing the answer before you travel.

The pre-authorisation call. A great many policies require you to telephone an assistance number before seeking care, except in a life-threatening situation. Failing to make that call is one of the most common grounds for a refused claim. Save the number somewhere you can reach it without your policy documents — in your phone contacts, and on paper.

The exclusions. Read them, they are short. Pre-existing conditions are frequently excluded or require a declaration. So are certain activities: skiing off-piste, diving, climbing, motorcycling. Alcohol is a classic exclusion clause too.

Repatriation. This is the cover that has no ceiling in real life and a very definite one in your contract. It is also the item the health cards never provide.

Credit-card insurance. Cover attached to a bank card is real but usually narrower: it often requires the trip to have been paid with that card, applies for a limited number of days, and carries lower ceilings.

5. Hospital and emergency costs

Public hospitals treat first and invoice afterwards. Nobody at the reception of a French public hospital emergency department will make treatment conditional on your ability to pay. You will be asked for identity and insurance details, and the invoice follows — sometimes by post, several weeks later, to the address you gave.

The forfait patient urgences. Anyone who attends a hospital emergency department and leaves without being admitted pays a fixed charge, the forfait patient urgences, of €23 as of March 2026. It replaces the itemised billing of the visit, and it is not charged if you are admitted to the hospital afterwards — in that case ordinary hospital billing applies instead. Reduced rates and exemptions exist, but they are attached to French social security statuses that a visitor will not usually hold.

A stay costs more than a visit. Billing for an admission covers the stay and the acts performed — precisely the scenario your medical expenses ceiling is there for, and the one where a health card alone leaves the most uncovered.

If you cannot pay immediately. Say so rather than disappearing. Hospital administrative departments handle this routinely: payment arrangements exist, and the invoice can often be sent to an insurer directly if you provide the policy details and the assistance number. An unpaid invoice that nobody discussed becomes a debt recovery matter; the same invoice discussed at the desk usually does not.

6. Pharmacy costs

Prescription medicines. Many products that are sold freely elsewhere require a prescription in France — antibiotics always do. A medicine dispensed on a French prescription is billed to you at the pharmacy, and the receipt is what supports the claim afterwards.

Over-the-counter products. Prices of medicines sold without a prescription are not regulated: they are set by each pharmacy, so they vary from one to another. For a minor ailment, asking the pharmacist is still the cheapest and often the fastest route.

Keep the right receipt. Ask for the detailed receipt that lists the name of each medicine, not the card payment slip. A slip proving you spent an amount at a pharmacy tells an insurer nothing about what was bought; the itemised receipt does. Staple it to the prescription and keep both, even after the treatment is finished.

7. Building your claim

The checklist. Whatever scheme you are claiming from, the same documents come up: the feuille de soins or the invoice, carrying the practitioner's name, RPPS number, date and amount; the itemised pharmacy receipts; every prescription, including used ones; for a hospital visit, the discharge document and the invoice; and, where a pre-authorisation call was required, the reference the assistance service gave you.

Photograph everything as you receive it. A claim assembled three weeks later from memory is a claim that gets returned.

Deadlines vary by insurer, and some are short. Look up the claim window in your policy on the day you are treated, not on the day you get home: a claim filed late is refused on the date, whatever its merits.

Video consultations. Services of this kind generally send an invoice by email after the consultation, which makes them easy to include in a claim file. Whether the amount is then reimbursed depends entirely on your own policy — a video consultation is not automatically treated like an in-person one by every insurer, and it is worth checking that specific point in your terms. With DotKtor, the fee is shown before booking and an invoice is issued after the consultation, subject to medical availability.

Consulting a doctor by video while in France

If you are staying in France and would rather consult from where you are, DotKtor connects international visitors with independent doctors registered in France for video consultations. The interface is available in English, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese; the consultation is subject to medical availability, the fee is shown before booking, and an invoice is issued afterwards for you to submit to your own insurer if your policy covers it. A teleconsultation is not for emergencies: in an emergency, call 15 or 112.

Book a video consultation

Local information pages, city by city:

• Nice
• Paris
• Cannes
• Marseille
• Lyon
• Antibes

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to pay upfront?

As a visitor, almost always yes. You settle with the practitioner or the pharmacy at the time, and you claim afterwards from your health card scheme, your travel insurer or your own national scheme. Some travel insurers settle directly with providers, but that is a feature of the policy rather than the rule in France.

Is the European health card accepted in France?

Yes, for medically necessary care during a temporary stay, on the same terms as a person insured in France, and within the public system. The UK GHIC works on the same basis. Neither covers repatriation, planned treatment, or care outside the public system.

What if I have no insurance at all?

You can still be seen and still be treated; you simply carry the whole cost yourself, and you have no scheme to claim from afterwards. In a hospital, the invoice follows the care rather than preceding it, and the administrative department can discuss payment arrangements.

Are video consultations reimbursable?

That depends entirely on your own policy, and it is worth reading the exact wording. Some insurers treat a video consultation like any other medical consultation; others cover it only under conditions, or not at all. What you can count on is receiving an invoice you are able to submit — what happens to it afterwards is between you and your insurer.

Is emergency care free in France?

No. Public hospitals treat everyone who arrives, whatever their nationality or insurance situation, but the care is billed afterwards. Someone who attends an emergency department and leaves without being admitted pays a fixed charge of €23 as of March 2026; an admission is billed under ordinary hospital rules.

Can I be refused care because I cannot pay?

Not in a public hospital emergency department: the assessment and the emergency care come first, and the billing afterwards. Outside that setting, a practitioner in private practice is being paid for the consultation at the time, so payment is expected then.

How long do I have to claim?

It varies by insurer and some windows are short, so check your own policy rather than assuming. For the European card route, claims can generally be made during the stay from the local fund, or afterwards from your own institution on presentation of the French documents.

What if the doctor charges more than the regulated tariff?

That is a sector 2 practitioner applying an excess fee, which is legal. The amount must be communicated to you beforehand. Reimbursement schemes are generally calculated on the regulated tariff, so the excess usually remains at your expense unless your own policy covers it specifically.