Insurance in France · in plain English
Whatever life in France brings, it shouldn’t be lost in translation. Our bilingual team makes Family Health Insurance in France clear and simple – backed by Generali.
Fast, free and tailored to your needs – reply within 24 hours.
Family health insurance in France is the one thing every expat family needs immediately – and the one thing most get wrong. The French system is excellent. It is also entirely in French, built for French residents, and completely indifferent to the fact that you arrived three weeks ago with two children and a stack of paperwork you cannot read. We fix that. Bilingual advisors, a confirmed quote in 24 hours, and cover that starts before your carte Vitale does.
Get your family covered today – speak to an advisor in English.
Backed by Generali
As an official Generali agency, we pair local, English-speaking service with the solidity of one of the world’s leading insurers.
Most English-speaking families arriving in France do – and most do not realise it until something goes wrong. Family health insurance is the only thing that closes that gap from day one.
Here is the situation no one explains clearly: the French public health system – Assurance Maladie – does not cover you from arrival. It covers you once you are affiliated. That affiliation process, called PUMA (Protection Universelle Maladie), requires a minimum of three months of documented residency before your file can even be assessed. Add CPAM processing time, and the total gap between landing in France and receiving a working carte Vitale runs from three to nine months.
During that window, your family has zero public health cover. A GP visit, a child's accident, a dental emergency, a complicated pregnancy – every one of those costs falls entirely on you, out of pocket, with no reimbursement.
A private family health insurance plan closes that gap from day one. It requires no Assurance Maladie affiliation. It starts when you arrive. And when your carte Vitale finally comes through, it transitions seamlessly into its complementary role alongside the public system.
The question is not whether you need cover. The question is whether you have it yet.
Family health insurance fills the gap that Assurance Maladie leaves. Once your carte Vitale is active, Assurance Maladie reimburses a regulated base rate: 70% of the tarif de convention for a GP consultation, up to 80% for hospitalisation. The remainder is your responsibility. For one person, that is manageable. For a household with children, a partner, and regular healthcare needs, it adds up to thousands of euros a year in uncovered costs.
A well-structured mutuelle fills the gap. For families in France, the most important areas of cover are:
What a standard family health insurance plan does not cover: purely cosmetic treatments, pre-existing conditions excluded at sign-up, experimental therapies, and long-term care beyond defined annual limits. Your advisor reviews every exclusion with you before you sign – so there are no surprises when you make a claim.
France's 100% Santé programme is one of the most significant – and most underused – benefits available to expat families. Introduced in 2019, it guarantees zero remaining charge for a defined basket of treatments, provided your family health insurance plan is compliant.
For families, the impact is concrete:
Dental: A range of prosthetics – crowns, bridges, full dentures – are fully reimbursed at zero cost to you when your mutuelle carries the 100% Santé label. Routine care follows standard reimbursement rules.
Optical: Every household member can access a pair of glasses – frame and lenses – from the 100% Santé range at no cost per cycle. Children with evolving prescriptions qualify for an annual renewal. The available range has expanded substantially since the programme launched.
Hearing: For any family member requiring hearing aids, including children diagnosed with hearing loss, the 100% Santé basket covers a full pair of Class I devices at zero cost. This is among the most financially impactful benefits for families – and one of the least known.
A mutuelle that is not 100% Santé compliant cannot unlock any of these benefits. We verify compliance as a baseline for every plan we recommend.
If you are living in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, or any large French city, you will quickly discover that most of the specialists your family needs – paediatricians, orthodontists, child psychiatrists, dermatologists – practice in Secteur 2. This means they are legally authorised to charge above the regulated rate. The right family health insurance plan accounts for this from the start.
The gap between their fee and the Assurance Maladie base rate is called the dépassement d'honoraires. For a child's orthodontic treatment in Paris, for example, a Secteur 2 orthodontist may charge two to three times the tarif de convention. Assurance Maladie reimburses the base fraction only. A poorly chosen mutuelle covers a small portion of the rest. The family absorbs the difference – across months or years of treatment.
The OPTAM agreement (Option Pratique Tarifaire Maîtrisée) is the solution most families never hear about. OPTAM practitioners are Secteur 2 doctors who voluntarily moderate their fees. In exchange, they receive better reimbursement from Assurance Maladie – and families with OPTAM-compatible family health insurance plans receive significantly better coverage on every consultation and treatment.
Our advisors identify OPTAM-certified paediatricians, orthodontists, and child specialists in your specific city before recommending a plan. That matters more than almost any other variable in your mutuelle choice.
We are not a comparison website. We are not a call centre. We are a bilingual concierge service built specifically for English-speaking families who need family health insurance in France.
Here is what that means in practice:
Family health insurance cover typically ranges from €150 to €350 per month for a household of four, depending on ages, city, and cover level. Your advisor gives you a precise figure – not a generic estimate.
For a broader overview of how the French health system works before you speak to us, visit our guide to health insurance in France.
We do not ask for reviews. These are messages our clients sent us after getting family health insurance sorted through Best French Insurance.
"We arrived in Lyon with two children and zero idea how the French system worked. Within a week, Best French Insurance had us covered and had explained in clear English exactly what our mutuelle included and what it did not. Knowing the PUMA gap was covered from day one was the thing that gave us real peace of mind." – Sarah and Tom B., British family, Lyon.
"Moving to Paris for my husband's job meant juggling school enrolments, housing, and insurance at once. Our advisor sorted the family health cover in 48 hours. No French forms, no confusion, just a confirmation and a policy that actually made sense." – Jennifer K., American expat, Paris.
"Our daughter needed orthodontic treatment and I was dreading what it would cost. Our advisor explained the OPTAM system, found an OPTAM orthodontist in Bordeaux, and built a plan around it. The reimbursement on the first treatment was far better than we expected – and I would never have known to ask for that without their guidance." – Marc and Claire D., Canadian family, Bordeaux.
FAQ
If your family is preparing to move to France, currently in the PUMA gap, or already settled but underinsured – one conversation is all it takes to sort your family health insurance.
No commitment. No French forms. No waiting. Just a bilingual advisor who knows the French system, understands your situation, and gets your household properly covered – in English, from start to finish.
We respond within one business day. And if you also need to sort home insurance in France, we handle that in the same conversation.
Request your family health insurance quote now.
More cover
Protect your home and belongings with straightforward, easy-to-understand policies designed for English-speaking expats.
Learn more →Customized vehicle solutions for English-speaking residents, with advisors who know local regulations.
Learn more →Protect your business in France with cover explained in plain English, from liability to company vehicles.
Learn more →Fill out our form for a personalised quote – or contact us and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours. Fast, free and tailored to your needs.
Your trusted insurance partner in France for over 20 years.
© 2025 Generali Cognac. All rights reserved. Website created by Newp.
SAS AGENCE GENERALI COGNAC, whose registered office is located at 2 rue Pillet Will, 75009 Paris, is registered with the Paris Trade and Companies Register under number 844 879 106, and with ORIAS under number 210005547.
