French health insurance: getting medical care as an international student

You fall ill on a Tuesday evening. Who pays? It comes down to one document, and to where you’re from.

If you’re from the EU, the EEA or Switzerland

Your European Health Insurance Card (EHIC, called CEAM in French) is enough if it is valid at least until the end of your academic year. Your care is covered as it would be for someone insured in France, and your home country pays. You don’t need to register with French health insurance (the Assurance maladie).

• No European card? Register on etudiant-etranger.ameli.fr, with an S1 form or a sworn statement that you have enough resources.
• Working in France while you study? Your job brings you into the French health insurance system.
• British student: your GHIC, or a UK-issued EHIC, gives you the same rights. Without one, register on etudiant-etranger.ameli.fr.
• Student from Québec: on an exchange, bring form SE 401-Q-106; enrolled directly at a French university, form SE 401-Q-102 bis, to hand in to the CPAM (the local health insurance office).

If you’re from outside the EU

Registering with the Assurance maladie is free and compulsory. It’s done online, on etudiant-etranger.ameli.fr, with your certificate of enrolment.

Have ready:

1. your passport or ID card;
2. your residence permit, meaning your long-stay visa, validated online within three months;
3. your certificate of enrolment — see Enrolling at university;
4. your birth certificate: a full copy, or an extract showing your parents’ names;
5. your IBAN.

Then things follow on:

1. You get a temporary social security number and a temporary certificate to download.
2. Once your file is approved, you download your final certificate.
3. You receive a form to request your carte Vitale, the French health card.
4. You can then create your ameli account, where you track your reimbursements.

Your cover starts on the date your studies begin. Stuck online? Call 36 46: they can answer in English.

What does a doctor’s visit cost?

With a "secteur 1" GP (who charges no extra fees), a visit costs €30.

What you always pay yourself:

• €2 per visit: the "participation forfaitaire";
• €1 per box of medicine or per paramedical treatment: the "franchises".

Each of these is capped at €50 a year. The caps rise to €70 on 1 October 2026.

The family doctor: the step that changes everything

Your médecin traitant is the GP who follows your health. Declaring one is required from age 16 to be properly reimbursed.

• Pick a GP near your home or campus.
• During the visit, the doctor makes the declaration online.
• You can change doctor whenever you like, without giving a reason.

You can see a gynaecologist, an ophthalmologist or, between 16 and 25, a psychiatrist directly, without going through your family doctor.

Top-up insurance: not compulsory, strongly recommended

The Assurance maladie doesn’t cover everything. A complémentaire santé (top-up health insurance, often called a "mutuelle") pays some or all of the rest: the €11 of a GP visit, hospital stays, glasses, the dentist.

• You’ll find them with student mutuals, insurers and banks. Compare before signing.
• Tight budget? The Complémentaire santé solidaire can be free: as of 1 April 2026, for a single person in mainland France, if your yearly income is €10,421 or less. Up to €14,069, it costs at most €1 a day, and at most €8 a month if you’re under 25. You must be legally resident in France.

In an emergency

• 15: the SAMU, for a medical emergency.
• 112: the European emergency number, from any phone.
• 114: by text, for deaf or hard-of-hearing people.
• 3114: suicide prevention, 24/7.
• SOS Médecins Montpellier: 3624 or 04 67 72 22 15, to see a doctor in the evening or at the weekend.

A visit to A&E without being admitted costs €23 (the "forfait patient urgences"), paid back by your top-up insurance if you have one.

Free care in Montpellier

• University of Montpellier — preventive medicine service: free, confidential consultations and psychologists by appointment, on prdv.umontpellier.fr.
• University health centre (Centre de soins universitaire): GPs, psychologists, a psychiatrist and a physiotherapist, with nothing to pay upfront. 8 rue de l’École Normale, appointments on 04 11 28 19 79. Bring your carte Vitale or your certificate.
• Paul-Valéry University — student health service: free, at the Maison des étudiants (Charles-Camproux building), 04 67 14 22 40.

Your mental health matters too

• Santé Psy Étudiant: up to 12 free sessions a year with a partner psychologist, on santepsy.etudiant.gouv.fr.
• Mon soutien psy: 12 sessions a year with a psychologist, 60% reimbursed.
• 3040: the free, confidential listening line for students, during the day.
• Nightline: 0 809 104 104, every evening from 9 pm to 2:30 am.