Today was going to be an exciting day anyway, because in a few hours Morgen and I are leaving for a one-week trip to Spain. We’ll be in the town of Marbella, on the southern coast, just a short drive from Gibraltar—which we might also visit. Perhaps we’ll even get adventurous and take a ferry across to Morocco. We’re celebrating the 10-year anniversary of our first date (February 24, which is also the anniversary of Laura Palmer’s death—an oddly appropriate coincidence for a couple of Twin Peaks fans).

So, that would have been reason enough to be happy, but we have something else to celebrate too. On Wednesday we finally received confirmation from the Caisse Primaire d’Assurance Maladie (the French social security agency, which manages the national healthcare plan) that we’re in: we’re officially covered by France’s CMU (couverture maladie universelle), and in fact our coverage was made retroactive to the day we applied, back in December. We have an actual French social security number and everything, which I think is just terribly cool.

Now, I realize that most people don’t regard a new health insurance policy as the most exciting thing in the world. But this has been a long and often very frustrating process for us; not so many months ago we had a bunch of different people telling us that we’d never be eligible for social security here, since we don’t have jobs in France (at least, not the way the French government thinks of jobs). Although we’ve had private insurance all along, it wasn’t great—a bunch of things weren’t covered, and we would have been in bad shape if any major medical expenses had arisen. But with the kind help of a friend who made some inquiries on our behalf and pointed us to the right forms to submit at the right office, we finally got past that hurdle. And now we can convert our third-party policy to a “top-off” plan that pays for what you might think of as the deductible or co-pay for the regular French health insurance. So we’re in good shape, and all for a mere (cough) 8 percent of our annual income.

Anyway: off to Spain! It’s our first European vacation since moving here last summer, and I can hardly wait. We’ll report back, with pictures, as soon as we can.

Just typing in “expat health insurance france” got me to a lot of Web sites of companies that seemed to be able to provide what I needed, but none of them gave clear information about what type of plan exactly suited our situation. Wading through insurance terms and language at the best of times is difficult for me, but to try to make sense of this information without knowing the ins and outs of the French system was highly daunting. Plus, most of these companies asked you to fill out an extensive questionnaire, which included a lot of personal information, before they would give out even basic information about plans and prices. It all just seemed unnecessarily complicated, and I kept looking for a Web site that would give me some general guidance without my having to initiate anything at the start.

I found what I was looking for when I came across the Web site for Exclusive Health Care, a company that operates in France but has ties to insurance underwriters in the UK. I liked it immediately because the site seemed more personal and more open about what is required for expats moving to France. I was especially interested in the information they provided about their Gateway Plan which seemed to suit our situation perfectly. It provides what they call “catastrophe” insurance, basic coverage for emergency situations plus a few other services. The term of the coverage is for one year, but it is intended to be a stopgap for new residents waiting to enroll in the French health care system (you can only apply for this after three months of residency). Once new residents obtain insurance through the state system (known as Securité Sociale), the remaining balance on the plan is rolled over into what is called a “Mutuelle,” an add-on type of insurance which reimburses you for the percentage of health fees not covered by the Securité Sociale.

The Gateway Plan seemed like the best option for us, and as we had limited time to secure proof of insurance before our visa appointment at the French consulate, we hoped that it would not take too long to process our application. One thing that made the process go faster was that we already had an address in France (which they requested on the application form), having decided to find an apartment before we submitted our visa applications (see Finding an apartment in Paris). Despite a little bit of miscommunication at the start, and with a few worried emails and phone calls on our part, Exclusive did come through for us in time, and the documents they provided were exactly what the Consulate agents needed. We were also pleased that although we had to pay half of the yearly premium up front in order to receive our insurance policy documents, we didn’t have to pay the balance until we arrived in France and our insurance coverage officially took effect.

As we continue our stay here in France, I’m certain we’ll have more questions and confusion about our health insurance status, but with the Gateway Plan we’ve found the right solution for the time being.