We have healthcare!

We are entitled for health care in France for a limited time because of France and the UK being in the EU. In France you have to pay the equivelent of NI (that is simplifying it) to be eligable for health care. I started off trying to explain the ins and outs of it here, but it is all very complicated. The upshot is that we are covered until the end of 2013 and will then have to sort something else out, either doing some work which pays the relevant tax or by private health care. After 5 years you are allowed to make the tax contributions even if you are not doing work which pays the relevant tax.
Strangly we pay tax on our UK rental incomve (11%) which is called a social charge and covers paying for the health service but does not actually entitle us to health care in France.
As I say it is all nearly incomprehensible, even I think by the people trying to admisiter the system and the taxes.

Anyway for now we are registered in to the system and have got social numbers which means the UK will pay for any health care (visits to doctor, perscriptions, hospital stays) we need until the end of 2013. Actually this is not quite true - they only pay what a French person would be covered for which is around 70% of the cost, so we also need some insurance which covers us if we have a long hospital stay where the costs rapidly mount up. Apparently this is not too expensive though.