Re: Wealthy Tax Avoiders.
Aerolor,
If you want an honest answer, I don't really know, but I have three examples of what has happened to and around me..
When we first moved here there were an old couple, (English) living nearly opposite us, I say old, I wa nearly seventy and my wife sixty five, so they were around the early -mid eighty mark.
Shelia, the wife, had suffered from a bad back for long time and would just sit in a chair all day watching her favourite T.V. programmes, she was on medications, please don't ask what.
Victor, the Husband was a wily old man, although well into his eighties had a razor sharp brain but was very frustrated because ot the problems he had with having Parkinsons disease --- angina ( not sure of the spelling) --- and one or two other problems ---- all these problems were treated with "pills" of sorts.
Because both were over seventy five, all ------ medication doctors fees --- hospitalisations were free at scource, I think they still had to pay for a visit to see a specialist though because here in France all the specialists are private practitioners --- and the way it works is this.
The government have a Tariff of payments they pay a specialist, but the specialist is allowed, (witin reason, or he won't get any "customers")to charge extra for his services, your top up insurance will then cover the amount ABOVE that which the government will pay, this is why, when I said in my last post that if you don't take out a "top up" insurance you have to pay anything above the governments 75% out of your own pocket. You have to actually pay the specialis after each visit, which is then automatically reimbursed.
Vic has since died and his wife moved in with Grandchildren.
The second case is this,
My wife started bleeding from her "rear end", a cancerous colon has been diagnosed, she has gone through radio and chemo treatment, and is going into hospital on the 8th of Aug to have it removed, all cancer treatment is free in France, you pay for NOTHING, ( except when visiting a specialist, and then the above explanation applies), once you are "in the system" you pay for nothing, any "extra" charges are sent directly to your top up insurers, those on or below the minimum wage and those not covered by by a top up insurance get all treatments -- hospitalisations -- after care-- totally free, including a "taxi" to pick you up, wait while your'e treated and take you home, no matter how many times you have to visit a hospital specialist/ whatever.
Th only other way I know is that a lady -- Madame Simone --- a truly lovely lady, lived in our commune, she was very old, and could no longer cope with looking after herself so she opted to enter a medically controlled old peoples home, as far as I know at no charge to herself.
I say this because a year or so ago the lady died, her house was sold by the remaining family, which implies to me that the state didn't demand all her private assets be sold in order to assist pymentof living in "care", none of her family were expected to pay for anything, she was allowed a small amount of "pocket money" from her state pension and the rest went towards her costs of living in "care".
Because my wife is five years younger than I, it is HER name on our insurance policy, because of me being nearly seventy, at the time, had the policy been in my name it would have been far more expensive, because of my age, and by law, the insurance companies can't just "hyke" up the costs because youv'e ---had an accident ---- as it were.
Ive tried to explain things as simply as i can and i apologise if I have confused you, but please feel free to ask any questions regarding health care --- living here --- whatever, if i am able to i will answer all.---or start a new thread in order to do so.