International Mobility: Tailored Coverage for Every Situation

The Caisse des Français de l’Étranger (CFE) is a private organization with a public service mission that acts as an alternative to the French Social Security system for French nationals living abroad. While the French Social Security system provides comprehensive health and insurance coverage, CFE membership is optional and operates on a modular basis.

Contributing to the CFE allows employees to maintain an active French Social Security number, making their return to France significantly easier. However, CFE membership does not exempt employees from joining the social protection scheme of their host country. In addition, while the CFE covers the basic French pension scheme, it does not cover the Agirc-Arrco supplementary pension plan.

These employees require comprehensive health and insurance coverage, as neither remains in place under the French system. Employers generally have two options:

• First-euro coverage: benefits are paid from the very first euro spent, for both healthcare and insurance, without relying on an intermediary scheme.
• Supplementary coverage alongside the CFE: in both healthcare and insurance, benefits can complement CFE reimbursements through a single point of contact offering services equivalent to a first-euro solution.

From a retirement perspective, expatriates no longer contribute to the CNAV or Agirc-Arrco schemes. It is therefore essential to maintain contributions to the basic pension scheme through the CFE (the equivalent of CNAV for expatriates) as well as to CRE-IRCAFEX, managed by Malakoff Humanis (the equivalent of the Agirc-Arrco supplementary pension scheme). This dual approach is crucial to avoid any loss of pension quarters or retirement points, especially since supplementary pensions account for nearly one-third of a private-sector employee’s retirement income.

The following arrangements should therefore be considered:

• First-euro healthcare coverage: ensuring access to appropriate medical care, provider networks, and most importantly direct billing arrangements for hospitalisation anywhere in the world.
• Continuation of French insurance coverage: contributions to the French group insurance plan maintain death, disability, and long-term sick leave benefits for the employee, who remains on the company’s payroll regardless of their country of residence.
• Continuation of French retirement contributions: as pension contributions continue through payroll, CNAV and Agirc-Arrco coverage is preserved.

Good to know: for posted workers, affiliation and reporting are now completed through the French DSN (Déclaration Sociale Nominative), with no specific action required on your part, alongside obtaining the A1 certificate from URSSAF.

Employees travelling abroad on short-term business assignments, particularly those who travel several times a year and across multiple countries, require dedicated coverage.

Beyond standard healthcare coverage—which may, in some countries, provide reimbursement for medical treatment through mechanisms such as the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC)—a dedicated assistance/business travel solution covering emergency medical expenses and repatriation is essential. Such coverage provides direct billing for major hospitalisations abroad as well as repatriation to the home country, or to another selected country, when appropriate treatment is unavailable locally.

Insurance and retirement coverage remain in place during these assignments. However, it is important to properly notify the French Social Security authorities and issue a mission letter for each business trip.