December 2010

HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS

 

 

The movie Ron Howard released in the year 2000 is based on How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the classic book written by Dr. Seuss. I assume that all children raised in the USA have read or have listened to at least one of his books. I can remember reading some pretty difficult tongue-twisters written by this author to my own children.

Foreigners often think that people are stealing from them, and sometimes they are right, but this is generally the case less often than they believe.

Finding yourself in any of the following situations can create the impression that somehow you are being robbed:

  • 1 – When one needs to be in tears in order to get a simple piece of information, one may feel robbed of one's peace of mind (see the first topic).
  • 2 – When lawmakers enact a new law without taking into consideration those who will suffer heavy losses as a consequence of such a law, especially those who have little to nothing to start with, the victims may feel robbed of necessary coverage (see the second topic).
  • 3 – When custom or legal requirements force women to change their names simply because they are married, they may feel they have been robbed of their identity (see the third topic).
  • 4 – When people inherit settlements they feel they do not deserve, they may not feel robbed but may feel they are robbing someone else (see the fourth topic)!
  • 5 – When red tape in the bureaucracy keeps the sick from using their health coverage when they need it most, the patients may feel robbed of their health, even to the point of fearing for their lives (see the fifth topic).

Of course, French people complain of the same thing, but for them it does not feel the same way. They do not suffer from panic attacks and the feeling that there is quicksand under their feet.

I just hope that no one will steal your Christmas and you will have a wonderful celebration this year.

Please allow me to wish all of you a

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR.

 

 

THE SECU AND FRANCE TELECOM CAN COMMUNICATE IN ENGLISH
Any tourist in Paris is now used to seeing signs stating that the client can be served in English at restaurants, hotels, and many other places. On their websites, French banks either have special pages for Anglophones or their main pages are also in English. So it is clear that more and more businesses are advertising, one way or another, that they accommodate Anglophones.

Interestingly enough, I have found out that others literally hide this service. I am still trying to understand why.

L'assurance-maladie, which is the generic legal name for the French national health care system (nicknamed the Sécu), has a toll free number, 3646, where you are supposed to be able to get whatever information you need on your case. Following the third time a file was sent registered letter (see the third Q/A below for details), my client came to my office with another letter asking for the file one more time.

So, calling this number, once again trying to find out how far along the file is in the pipes, I am told that someone can call back the insured party, but my client does not master French at all. I explain the deadlock. After several minutes of a conversation by then going nowhere, the civil servant finally explains that there is a normal number for the Anglophone office, if this would solve the problem. Need I say more? Phone Nº: 01 53 35 23 00.

France Télécom is the country's largest telephone company, formerly state-owned but privatized some years ago, although numerous civil servants still work there. On both sides of the Atlantic, it seems, such companies have the same level of customer service, whether it concerns cable, Internet provision or phone service. So I called from my client's apartment trying to fix a phone and cable TV problem, and was told it should be fixed three days later. It was not, so my client tried to call on her own to follow up, but was quickly stymied by lack of communication, mainly because of her level of French. Finally she asked, out of desperation, if there was any way she could speak to someone in English. Whereupon she got a number to call for services in English. Phone Nº: 09 69 36 39 00.

I would like to remind everybody that Paris was ranked the second most welcoming European city for tourists, after London, in a recent survey - sponsored by the tourism office of the Paris region.

 

 

AIDE MEDICALE D'ETAT NOW COSTS 30€ PER YEAR
I would like to expand on this news because there is a lot more than what meets the eyes. There are many different ways to look at health and access to medical treatments. For the longest time, France and the USA represented pretty much the two extremes on this issue in the Western world. In France, for a minimum of 50 years, up until very recently, the consensus was that health was a public good and therefore the government's business. To put it very plainly, the reasoning was that the greater good of the nation could be achieved only if people knew they were protected on this, among other things: everybody is checked and treated for any kind of infectious disease, because everybody is covered by national health care. In the USA, also until very recently, the reasoning was that health was mostly a private matter and people all had to make sure they could handle their own medical problems regardless of the cause.

The French approach reached its logical conclusion when the Couverture Médicale Universelle and Aide Médicale d'Etat programs were set up. They made it possible for absolutely everybody in France to have access to medical treatment. The C.M.U. also works for legal immigrants living in France, and can be free for very poor people. The A.M.E. is for undocumented aliens, and until recently was free, the assumption being that illegal aliens did not have much income and therefore had very little means.

Both programs are dedicated to poor people who are outside the normal program of coverage that is based on working in France.

The French health care system does cost a lot of money, an issue I addressed about two years ago; everyone's social charges pay for these services. On the other hand, it confers a true and long-lasting peace of mind, since health need not be a financial issue; anything can happen, but no one goes broke or has to be deprived of something to pay a medical bill.

In recent years, however, the approach has changed in France. Now it is felt that health-related costs are too high and people are way too careless with the system, even taking advantage of it. Financial concerns prevail and the idea is now that if access to medical treatment or a doctor had a higher out-of-pocket cost, people would be more careful. The theory is that this would cut down on people seeking second opinions and the scams people pull to make money gaming the system. In the grand scheme of things, however, those two types of "abuse" have a negligible impact on the overall costs. So this reasoning is spurious: the plain truth is that the French conservative government is lowering the level of coverage, passing its costs on to the people, especially those who are sick and often poor.

After reducing the ratio of coverage in the normal program, then, the latest law signed on November 3rd has instated an annual fee of 30€ for the A.M.E. It is clear that almost anyone in France can afford that much for health coverage, so from a financial point of view, the move is not scandalous. But to say that is to miss the point totally. The reality is something else again. Only a tiny minority of people plans ahead and has such a conservative way of life that they are always prepared and anticipate problems that can be avoided. The vast majority live from paycheck to paycheck and there is no room left for savings. One can regret this situation and presume that with a good education and good role models, people would be wiser and more conservative in their decisions. But that is so unlikely ever to come about in reality. It's a fact of life that most people covered by the A.M.E. will suffer financial hardship when it comes time to renew the coverage, because their budget is that tight. Therefore, some people will end up not being covered.

I believe that, in the name of equality and justice, foreigners and French people, legal and illegal residents, should be treated the same way in this matter, and if the A.M.E. costs 30€ then the C.M.U. should cost at least the same. That being said, however, the point I want to make here is something else entirely.

This is just another step in the direction of giving the health coverage mission to the private sector. That is exactly what the American president was walking away from. Just keep in mind that prevention costs less than treatment at the very last minute, even though on the other hand it does allow one to delay paying the cost by several decades. Governments should know better: just like deficits, this is creating extra debt or costs for the generations to come!

 

 

WORK DONE ON THE WEBSITE
The website www.jeantaquet.com does not offer access to past columns anymore, and we hope that this will be temporary. However, the website still enables people to subscribe (or unsubscribe) to receive either the generic or ACP church versions. Of course, I have access to the entire database and therefore I can send them upon demand.

 

 

OFFICE SPACE AVAILABLE FOR RENT
My former office space is approximately 35m2 and is now available. The monthly rent is 1,110.00€ TTC, payable quarterly. It has two rooms of about the same size and a small hallway. It is located in the courtyard and it is very quiet. The address is 52 rue Notre Dame de Lorette, 75009 PARIS.

 

 

OFFICE CLOSED FOR CHRISTMAS
I will celebrate Christmas in the U.S. and therefore the office will close on Friday, December 17th and reopen on Monday, January 3rd. As always, I will be reachable by email for emergencies and important matters. The service I offer of receiving mail for clients will continue while the office is closed.

 

I would like to remind everyone that there is no January issue.

 

Best regards,

 

Jean TaquetJean

 

Q & A

MARRIED WOMAN WANTS TO KEEP HER MAIDEN NAME QUESTION

QUESTION
Even though I am a fairly well integrated immigrant here with a good knowledge of most of your subjects, it is always nice to have it reiterated and explained in plain English. I would like to comment about your Q&A: THE USE OF A MARRIED NAME IN FRANCE AFTER A DIVORCE.

I am faced with a situation that is quite the contrary to this. When my husband and I bought a new apartment in 2009, we encountered the following issue. Every company we dealt with (EDF, Orange, the bank, l'Assurance Maladie) would NOT accept that I am Julia XX and he is Giuseppe YY.

They ALL insisted that I use HIS name rather than my own. They claimed it was too confusing for them to know me as XX and him as YY and could not accept verbal or additional written assurance that we were married, presented each time we needed to take care of a different issue.

Furthermore it became clear to me through their complaints that in France I am recognized as HIS [property/wife] and have to be identified with HIS name [not épouse YY but Julia YY]. Not being able to use XX leaves me feeling like I have been stripped of my identity. It got so bad that I finally had our accounts hyphenate my name to XX-YY.

  • 1 – Why would this have happened to us, considering your Q&A says all women in France keep their names and don't change them?
  • 2 – Is it because we are a non-French couple, though EU citizens? [I am American with Italian citizenship through my husband, who is Italian.]

I would love to hear your take on this ridiculous situation.

ANSWER
The issue here mainly deals with tradition applied by narrow-minded people. The easy answer would be to state that France remains predominantly a macho country. I do not believe that it is that bad in today's world, and even more important this would not explain how society handles a growing portion of the French population - the non-married but established couple. I am referring here to PACSed couples, those who have signed a pacte civil de solidarité. The only rational answer I can find is that there is the law and there is custom. Too many people mistake custom for the law. The reader who wrote the question you mention wanted to use her husband's name even after being divorced, and French law as well as the beliefs of most of the French population works very well in that direction. Now, in your direction, it is a perpetual uphill battle: almost all married women who try to make public that they are married and want to keep their names eventually give up. It seems that there are two choices: one is not to mention that you are married, and often in France one says nothing, even after being asked. Since non-married couples are now extremely common, you refer to your husband as your "significant other", "partner" and so on, using non-married wording. This way, you will be assumed eventually not to be married and you will get to keep your maiden name. If you want to make public that you are married, however, then the only practical solution is to systematically use a hyphenated name. My wife ended up doing exactly that.

Now, I can understand that you feel like this lack of flexibility indicates that the French consider the wife to be the husband's property, but I can assure you that even though the real situation is not perfect, French women enjoy a much more equal status than what you describe - in many ways quite comparable to what exists in the USA. It is simply that people devote their attention to different issues.

The last thing is that I can assure you that the way you have been treated has nothing to do with the fact that both of you are foreigners. Franco-French couples face exactly the same situation. The key difference is that they grew up in this culture and the name issue is different for them. If the couple is not traditional and therefore reject this custom, chances are they will not get married but will be PACSed, and then have a legal frame that fits their style and beliefs. By the same token, traditional couples get married and therefore people expect them to make traditional choices including regarding the use of last names.

I just hope that this explanation helps you deal with the situation.

 

 

 

HOW TO INVEST MY MONEY WHEN IT IS NOT MINE QUESTION

QUESTION
After a very long and traumatic divorce procedure in the French court and working with an excellent lawyer, I received a large sum of money, a good seven figure one. This was four years ago. Today I see myself spending this money and I am afraid it will not last. I am an American artist living in France and am getting now some income from it but nothing even close to covering my expenses.

Some mornings, I believe that I am becoming destitute; at times, I want to give it all to charity since it all came from him and I would be better off without it; I am also longing to get a regular stream of income from this investment that matches my standard of living. What should I do to fix the situation?



ANSWER
It is clear that several issues you have mentioned need to be addressed through some form of therapy. That being said, I still would like to address a couple of smaller issues found in your question, the ones I believe I can address.

Interestingly enough, your reaction, this impression that you do not own this money, is more frequent than most people would think. I encounter this most often when people inherit money from a deceased parent or loved one. A psychiatrist could explain better than I can the mixed feelings of guilt, longing for the loved one, pain of the reminiscence, not being worthy of the money, and thoughts like the deceased would have known what to do with the money and I do not know. The point I want to make here is that it is OK to be confused about how to handle the money, especially when one is not used to having so much money. By the way, it is this kind of reaction that gave people the idea of creating trusts so that the money is managed in a more structured manner. Also, that way the parent is able to set up rules and guidelines about how the money is managed and spent, with limitations related to amounts and the age of the beneficiary.

For some people this complex relationship with money received in this fashion never go away. Furthermore, you are currently living in France, where relationships with money and wealth are extremely complicated. Therefore it could be a lot easier to accept being somewhat incoherent and irrational about the entire thing and blame it on the cultural clash between the two countries. That does not mean you should not seek some psychological help, but at least choosing to look at the situation this way should significantly lower the pressure you live with.

I have no idea how much you have and how much you need to sustain your standard of living. But I believe you should not try to manage this money by yourself. I would think that choosing a reliable financial planner who works with a reputable portfolio manager would also significantly decrease the emotional aspect of this issue. Indeed, it could boil down to: you need x for your monthly expenses, therefore the money should be invested in such a way that you maintain some appreciation of the principal and generate a constant stream of income. This is exactly what professional expertise is all about. I would like to stress one crucial consequence of such an arrangement: it would put a significant distance between the money and you. This is very important since once you see the income coming in and the statements showing that your principal is not diminishing anymore, you will not be subject to panic attacks anymore and you can approach this money with more peaceful feelings.

Now, the next question is how to choose a good financial planner, the person who will make the investment that delivers what was promised to you, month after month, year after year. I cannot answer this question, considering the latest scandals related to portfolio and assets managements. One might think that the entire profession is made up of incompetents, which is absolutely not true. At the same time, it is clear that a planner having all the licenses and the insurance liability policies is not enough for you to be sure that your money is safe. One thing I can say is, I would tend to have more confidence in someone who does not get all his compensation through the commissions earned by the sales of the financial products. Yes, you should think of paying up front to get an independent professional to design the investment plan; it could be money very well spent.

 

 

 

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS ABOUT RENEWAL OF C.M.U. COVERAGE QUESTION

QUESTION
For a couple of years I have been in the French health care system and the registration and renewal process had gone fairly smoothly. I hold a carte de séjour visiteur and I receive my US Social Security payment in France as well as the rest of my pensions. The cost of the premium is quite reasonable considering the fact that I am over 70 with some serious medical conditions.

This year I started renewing the coverage at the end of August, sending the usual documents after receiving the first letter from CPAM. Since then I have received three more letters asking for the same documents and it says at the bottom that if it has already been sent then I should ignore the request. A few days ago, I received the last one stating that my coverage has been cancelled and they will stop my payments.

I cannot go back to the private sector and I need this coverage considering the medication I take and the very regular check-ups I get. All this is really expensive; I do not have the money to pay for it. How am I supposed to fix the problem?



ANSWER
For some reason, for about six months the office in charge of reviewing the Couverture Médicale Universelle has been totally clogged and it is taking months for files to be reviewed. This is a Kafkaesque situation. Indeed, the computer system identifies files that do not have the needed documents to be reviewed, and the insured receives second notice letters and sometime suspension of the coverage until further notice. At the same time, one learns that it takes two months or more for the files to be reviewed and therefore the insured should ignore those letters if the file has been sent. The problem is that they seem to fixate on foreigners who do not declare their income in France, as is possible for those who hold a carte de séjour mention VISITEUR; they are asking for proof of stable residence in France, which must be translated into "a French income tax statement." This is totally outside their right, however; filling out the C.M.U. form and enclosing a copy of an American 1040 statement should be enough.

Nevertheless, this makes no difference for you since you need your coverage. Now comes the goods news. (To a certain extent you could just relax, stop worrying and let the system fix the problem. Of course, I do not advise you to choose this solution, but it could be a viable one.)

I remind you that this is Couverture Médicale Universelle. In effect it means that everybody is covered no matter what, and literally this is exactly what will happen. It is impossible for you to lose your coverage, and therefore the reimbursement of your medical expenses. That aspect of the situation will never change. So what is left to know is just how much this will cost you. The absolute worst that can happen is that you pay what is considered the maximum premium one should be charged in this situation. Most likely you would get reimbursed once the data is being processed and URSSAF knows exactly how much your premium should be.

So, to get back to your fear, it is absolutely impossible to get off the French national medical coverage. It is so impossible to sign off it that one must prove that he/she is a resident of another country to stop paying into the system. Most likely, you will have to pay up front medical costs and get all the "feuilles de soins," which are the documents to submit to the CPAM in order to get reimbursed. Once your coverage and your account are in good standing, you submit the reimbursement request and you get the money you are owed.

YES, this is an unpleasant experience, and YES, it could end up make this situation quite expensive for you. On the other hand, it is not as awful as what you described. Your fear is somewhat ungrounded.