Parler Paris Newsletter

Erica Simone drowning in a French bath of good health care.
Photo by Erica Simone.

S.O.S. Mayor Delanoë and President Sarkozy! It's an Emergency!

Parler Paris...
Your taste of life in Paris and France
http://www.parlerparis.com/
Monday, April 7, 2008
Paris, France

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French Property Insider Special Offer
Half Price One Year Subscripton -- $29!
Only until April 15, 2008

Every Thursday, hundreds of smart folks receive an electronic magazine (call it an "E-Zine") called "French Property Insider." For those who are even remotely interested in having their own "pied-à-terre" in Paris or stone cottage in the countryside of France, it's a big bonus. Every week, "FPI" comes directly into their email in-box with oodles of information about finding, buying, owning, renting, renovating, managing and you-name-it-ing property in France.

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My daughter woke up Sunday morning with chills, fever, sore throat, a congested and runny nose and every symptom classic of "Le Rhume." A search on the Net said that there are close to 200 types of virus that can cause it, usually lasting four or five days. Ugh...for a 22-year-old not used to sitting still for more than 15 minutes.

Thank goodness, in France, the doctor is always "in" -- at least, when you call "SOS Medicins."

SOS Medicins is a nationwide "house-call" service founded in 1966 by a doctor named Lascar who had a patient die of a heart attack because he couldn't find a doctor on a Saturday afternoon. (He should try Sunday -- it's much worse!)

The way it works is simple. If you're in Paris, you dial either 01.47.07.77.77 or 08.20.33.24.24 and provide them with your address. Within one hour (usually about 30 minutes), a doctor knocks on your door. He's carrying a bag of goodies, just like doctors used to carry (am I revealing my age?) and he/she does what doctors do...examine you. Then the doc on house call prescribes -- medicine or ambulance or whatever is necessary.

He also filled out a "feuille de soin" (a form attesting to the visit) that allows the visit to be fully reimbursable by social security or private medical insurance. Before the doc leaves, you pay by check or cash -- usually a very reasonable fee. Yesterday's visit was the most I'd ever paid -- 70 'whopping' euros. The whole process took a total of one hour and we were left with a prescription for four drugs and instructions to keep 'miss antsy pants' in bed for three days.

So, if this had happened to you in the U.S., what would you have done and how would you have been taken care of? According to George W. Bush, who won the coveted "Clueless Quote of the Day" from Dan Froomkin of the Washington Post for this gem of a quote, "The immediate goal is to make sure there are more people on private insurance plans. I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room."

Just what emergency rooms need...lots of runny-nosed patients in need of a prescription. Is that what you would have done? And how much would it have cost? Would your insurance have covered it? And if it had, how much does your insurance cost?

Just to make you really jealous, private health care insurance for those without the French Social Security is so inexpensive it's going to shock you. The annual premium of the "Jefferson Health Care Plan" private insurance offered by "Adinas" insurance brokers for those my age (50 to 64) is the 'break-the-bank' sum of 1,692€ (141€ per month). Add dental coverage and it's a 'painful' 393€ more. Believe it or not, the policy reimburses 100% of billings up to 100% of the French Social Security tariffs, plus 80% of billings up to three times the cost of the French Social Security tariffs (20% co-insurance), plus 40% reimbursement of billings between up to six times the cost of the French Social Security tariffs (60% co-insurance). Uh oh. There's no reimbursement of billings above six times the cost of the French Social Security tariff! (Adinas Insurance, email advantage@adinas.net, 17 rue de Chateaudun, 75009 Paris, Tel: 01.44.63.53.82)

Are we complaining? Well, yes, in fact. Because once the doctor had left, I set out to find a pharmacy on a Sunday morning. This is where the system breaks down. I walked all over the neighborhood only to find every big green neon cross (that signifies a pharmacy) dark and not being its normal flashing self. I called SOS Medicins who couldn't say where to find a pharmacy except one known to be open 24 hours a day on boulevard de Sébastopol. They suggested looking at the windows of the closed pharmacies for an emergency number. After another round to the pharmacies unsuccessfully, I gave up and went home to search the Net.

It wasn't easy, but out of 1131 listed in "PagesJaunes.fr" in Paris, there are only 21 that are open Sunday and only one that delivers. I trekked down to boulevard de Sébastopol and within a few moments, the four items of medication were in a bag (paracetamol, antibiotics for 10 days, cough syrup and a prednisone), the pharmacist was explaining how to take the drugs and all for a total charge of 20€!

Okay, guess how much the same drugs would have been in the U.S.? My guess -- maybe more than 10 times that!

But...(I'm talking to you, France!), it's pathetic that so few pharmacies are open on Sunday! There should be at least one in each district quadrant! No?

HELP MAYOR DELANOË AND PRESIDENT SARKOZY! What good is it being the Number One health care system in the world, having a superior house-call program like SOS Medicins, but not being able to supply the medication? What's the problem here? Can't the pharmacies take turns being open? Can't they be posted on every pharmacy window? Can't there be a Web site where they are easy to find?

Respond to
Adrian

P.S. A few announcements:

1. If you haven't already signed up, do so now for Judith Merian's
Screenwriters Workshop this coming Saturday: "Plot the Perfect Crime and Find Fame and Fortune." Visit http://www.frenchpropertyconference.com/ for more information.

2. Stop in tomorrow to Parler Paris Après Midi to meet other readers. Visit http://www.parlerparis.com/apresmidi.html for more information.

Erica on Canvas 3. To all those in New York City, Roebling Hall is proud to present Facebook Profiles, a new exhibition opening Thursday, April 10th of Paul Campbell’s paintings and among them is Erica Simone Leeds on canvas! Roebling Hall, 606 West 26th Street, New York, NY 10001, Tel: 212.929.8180, http://www.roeblinghall.com/

4. Scroll down to see our new rental apartment listing!: La Bonne Nobel

Your Complete Solution to a New Home in France...

Adrian Leeds and her team of property professionals can help make your dream to live or invest in France come true. These experienced property experts provide comprehensive services including property search, purchase, mortgage and other after-the-sale services, such as renovation and rental management.

Let the Adrian Leeds Group guide you through the process with ease and peace of mind... to have your very own pied-à-terre in Paris or home in the French countryside.

Visit http://www.frenchpropertyconsultation.com or email info@adrianleeds.com

This Week in French Property Insider...

Just released this week are the facts and figures for the Paris property market according to the Chambre de Notaires de Paris and up, up, up again they rose!...Subscribers Read On...

French Property Insider is a weekly e-zine, sharing insights, recommendations, tips, and discoveries about Paris real estate and French property. Each information-packed issue is devoted to educating its readers on how to effectively, efficiently and profitably purchase property in France.

Screenwriters: "Plot the Perfect Crime and Find Fame and Fortune" with Judith Merians
April 12, 2008, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
La Pierre du Marais

Throughout film history crime films have provided some of the most successful movies ever made from Rififi to present day American Gangster. Learn how to write and sell a script that encompasses the conventions of three of the most popular sub-genres of crime stories: the detective tale, the crime saga, and the heist.

Led by Judith Merians, who has been an entertainment lawyer and studio executive, literary agent, and film school professor in Los Angeles for over 25 years.

Join us for this 3-hour workshop session sponsored by Adrian Leeds and Parler Paris Upstairs at La Pierre du Marais in Le Marais. Only 30€ per person!

Insider Paris Guides are written for people who love the City of Light. You'll get a Paris insider perspective on Good Value Restaurants... Making a Life... Black Culture... Expat Writers...plus the newest guide, Practical Paris!

Welcome to your home in Paris. Home is how you will feel in a private apartment in Paris that has the "seal of approval" from Parler Paris Apartments and me, Adrian Leeds.

La Bonne Nobel
Rue Nobel – one of Montmartre’s Most Charming Streets
Two-Bedroom (One-Bedroom + Bedroom/Office), Sleeps 4

On the third floor with elevator of an elegant "pierre-de-taille" building, on a quiet stair-stepped street in Montmartre, with no through traffic or hint of noise, sits "La Bonne Nobel." Completely renovated in late 2007, this gem is bright, shiny and luxuriously comfortable. Every surface and corner of the apartment has been exquisitely decorated in soothing tones of pale blues, beiges and soft browns.

Parler Parlor French-English Conversation Group
http://www.parlerparlor.com/

Practice speaking French and English. Make friends, discuss interesting topics, learn about other cultures, progress in understanding and speaking, naturally and easily. Meets three times a week -- come as often as you like!

Parler Parlor meets Tuesdays 6:30 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

AT LUTÈCE LANGUE
23, boulevard de Sébastopol (at the corner of rue de la Reynie), 1st arrondissement
3rd Floor on the Left (read notice on door to obtain entry code)
Métro Châtelet, Les Halles

Wednesdays 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
AT BISTROT DE LA GRILLE SAINT GERMAIN
14 rue Mabillon, 6th arrondissement
(at rue Guisarde and Le Marché Saint-Germain) 1st Floor
Métro Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Mabillon, Odéon

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