Mutual health insurance or complementary health insurance allows many French people to optimize their coverage, its role being to cover care not covered by social security. This type of contract is beneficial to you, regardless of your income; it guarantees you optimal support and allows you to save money. If you wish to take out this additional insurance, here is some information that should be useful to you.
Is mutual health insurance compulsory?
Unlike health insurance, joining a mutual health insurance is optional and subscription is possible both individually and collectively. One of the advantages of this insurance is its flexibility, as it adapts to all profiles of policyholders, thus allowing smaller budgets to be entitled to quality health coverage.
Individual supplementary health insurance
Whether you are young active, unemployed, student or senior, you can take out a mutual health contract. As a student, for example, you can take out your own insurance from the age of 16 , provided you have an employed parent. If you are an adult, depending on the terms of your contract, coverage may extend to one or more members of your family (your children, your spouse, etc.).
A person with limited resources can benefit from aid to join a mutual health insurance, in this case the complementary health solidarity (C2S). The latter came to replace the complementary health assistance (ACS) and the complementary universal health cover (CMU-C).
Collective health insurance
An employee may be required to join health insurance by his employer, according to the company’s collective agreement. Indeed, private employers have, since January 1, 2016, the obligation to provide their employees with collective health insurance. This obligation, the foundations of which were laid down through circular no. DSS/SD5B/2013/344 of September 25, 2013, implies that the employer must bear at least 50% of the contributions . Company health insurance covers both employees and managers.
As in the case of an individual subscription, at the level of which the covers are adjusted according to the profile of the insured, the company complementary health insurance adapts to the characteristics of each company and its sector of activity. The rules governing the operation of collective complementary health within each company are defined in the collective labor agreement (document dealing with the status of employees, their rights, etc.).
How to find cheap health insurance?
The basic objective of mutual health insurance is to offer financially accessible coverage solutions. To find a cheap and effective health supplement, start by comparing the quotes ; the price and the guarantees included are the main elements to analyze. For optimal coverage, other parameters such as reimbursement rates, waiting periods before reimbursement of co-payments (residual charge) or associated services are also important.
By accepting your employer’s mutual health insurance proposal, you also benefit from an inexpensive supplement, with the employer financing the contract up to 50%. Another way to find cheap mutual health insurance is to take out complementary insurance with the same insurer who already provides you with other insurance (car, home, etc.). Since you take out several contracts with it, the insurance company will be open to negotiating reductions on your mutual health insurance contract. The annual payment of your contributions , instead of the monthly payment, also makes it possible to reduce the cost of the mutual insurance company.

How to change mutual health insurance?
You can change health insurance on each anniversary date of the contract or in the event of a change of situation. If your current contract does not satisfy you or no longer suits your situation and you wish to subscribe to another insurer, all you have to do is send a letter to the organization of your mutual insurance company. The closing of the contract takes effect 30 days after the date of dispatch of your letter, the postmark serving as proof.
To change mutual health insurance, you also have the possibility of communicating your project by email or by physically meeting one of the agents of the insurance company. To simplify the process of changing health insurance, you can mandate your new insurer to take care of the process for you.
Is it possible to terminate your mutual health insurance contract?
Established by Law No. 2019-733 of July 14, 2019, infra-annual termination has been in effect since December 1, 2020. It allows all individuals, regardless of their profile, to terminate their mutual health insurance contract without having to justify themselves to the insurer, when said contract is more than one year old. Prior to this law, policyholders had to give notice and had two months before the anniversary date to terminate their contract. Thanks to the law on infra-annual termination, this process is no longer relevant. Once your contract has passed the first annual expiry date, you can terminate it without notice, without proof and without having to pay penalties.
On the other hand, to terminate your mutual insurance contract before the first annual expiry date, you must provide proof of a change in situation (marriage, birth, move, etc.). In this case, you send a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, following which the insurer issues you a cancellation certificate (within 30 days from the first day following the sending of your letter). If you are under a company mutual insurance contract, only your employer can request and obtain termination for all employees.