The American University of Paris provides excellent, comprehensive health care plan at an affordable price. Make sure you are reimbursed properly for all medical expenses by becoming familiar with the process outlined on this page. There is a list of maximum reimbursements located here. If you have any questions, simply reach out to the Health Office for support.
Understanding the Basics
Learn a few French terms in case you don’t already know them. A handful of words will come in handy when trying to make sense of your medical files and reimbursements.
Décompte: A décompte essentially means a reimbursement statement. This form, found on your SMEREP account, summarizes the amount reimbursed by the SMEREP. Please send your décompte to the Health Office so they can then forward it on to MSH International for the second part of your medical reimbursement. Note that some students may send all reimbursements directly to MSH. See the Health Office if you are not sure about this.
Attestation de droit: a certificate from your primary insurance (in most cases, this is SMEREP for AUP students). The attestation de droit states your name, date of birth, social security number and dates of coverage.
Feuille de soins: a form filled out by the doctor, pharmacy or laboratory indicating the treatment provided and how much you paid. Bring these to the Health Office with your prescription (ordonnance in French). We will make sure everything is completed correctly and send all documents on to SMEREP or MSH International, depending on your case.
Medecin traitant: This is a fancy word to mean your general practitioner or the doctor you see on a regular basis when you have a check-up or concern. You are expected to declare a medecin traitant in France. To be fully reimbursed, you must see this doctor before being referred to a specialist.
REIMBURSEMENT PROCEDURE
For the Health Office to assist with your reimbursement requests, first gather all of the documents you need, including: your feuilles de soins and prescriptions as well as a RIB (a document from your bank to transfer funds directly to your account).
The Health Office gathers and reviews all of your submissions before sending them out once a week.
Many claims are first sent to the French social security for students (SMEREP). The SMEREP may take up to a month to reimburse claims upon receipt. Claims for degree-seeking students over 28 and one-semester students are not enrolled in the SMEREP are sent directly to MSH International.
About a month after filing forms with the SMEREP, the Health Office will send you an email reminder to open your SMEREP account, print your décompte and send it to health@aup.edu.
The final step in the reimbursement process is to send the décompte to MSH International, your private insurance company. We send MSH décomptes every Friday and the reimbursement delay is typically six weeks.
A WORD ABOUT NON-ESSENTIAL SURGERY
In all cases of non-emergency hospitalization and surgery, you must provide your attestation de droit or carte vitale (French Social Security card for students who have applied) to the hospital. You must also contact MSH International at least 10 days in advance so they can issue a pre-certification agreement directly to the hospital.
The Health Office can help you gather all the necessary documents.