If you watch the TV show “House Hunters International” you may know the name of one of the presenters, Adrian Leeds. You would certainly recognize her signature red beret, glasses, lipstick, and outfit as she helps property buyers in Paris and Nice find the ideal—or compromise—new home. We’ve been following her since that first show in 2006 (now over 50 episodes) and used her book “Good Value Restaurant Guide” on every trip to Paris before moving to France. When our friend Sally sent us a link to one of Adrian’s newsletters, or Nouvellettres®, with just the short message, “Did you see this?” we were of course curious about what might be inside.

The first clue was the photo at the top of the newsletter with the caption, “The ICU unit in the Paris hospital”. Then she mentioned having contracted Influenza A that resulted in spending 2 weeks in the hospital (hence the photo) but she had no idea about the cost since she’d never received a bill. Surely there was a charge for the ambulance, 14 days in the hospital—4 of which were in intensive care, plus a month of housekeeping help at her apartment to aid with recovery. But then, Adrian did entitle the article, “Not a Penny Out of Pocket”, so perhaps there was more to the story.

All was indeed revealed when she got an email from her mutuelle company saying that there were unread messages in her account. About 96% of the French buy a monthly or annual insurance policy, generally known as a mutuelle, that covers some or all of any remaining medical bills not included in the universal healthcare system. It was there that Adrian discovered how much it cost, moneywise at least, for her to be sick:

Total expenditure	24,846€
Universal healthcare coverage:	19,581€
Mutuelle coverage:	5,265€
Patient responsibility	0€
Annual cost of Adrien’s mutuelle	2,169€

This was an especially interesting read for us for two reasons. Last year Bill and I dropped our mutuelle that was for in-hospital use only and didn’t offer complete coverage anyway. It seemed similar to the dental insurance we had in the US where our annual premium matched or even exceeded the annual coverage limit, so why not just self-insure. We periodically search for new information about the value of a mutuelle for us and so far, nothing has changed; that is, over a rolling 5-year time period we would either break-even or save money by setting aside a monthly premium amount rather than paying it to a mutuelle. Hint: to quickly calculate an average cost for a middle-of-the-road mutuelle for a couple, add their two ages together such as 70 + 68 =138€ per month for two people.

The second reason why we found this Nouvellettres® valuable is because Adrian admitted that while she knew that the flu vaccine is free for seniors in France (she’s age 73) she didn’t take the time to get the shot. On the other hand, her assistant who did get vaccinated, still developed the flu on the same day as Adrian, but recovered quickly with a few days rest at home. Now I know why we get vaccinated.

Photo notes: The featured photo is the Hôtel-Dieu (hospice/hospital) founded in 1443 in Beaune while the other illustrations are thanks to the websites of the Central Hospital in Carcassonne and the government’s Santé Publique France.