Description
The Complémentaire santé solidaire (C2S) is France’s public complementary health cover for people on low incomes. It pays what the Assurance Maladie leaves to the patient, for free or for at most €1 a day per person, and replaces a private mutuelle for the whole household.
The State pays for it, and the caisses d’Assurance Maladie run it, or an approved mutuelle or insurer if the applicant prefers. Since 1 April 2026, a single person in mainland France qualifies for the free version with less than €10,421 of income over twelve months, and for the paying version up to €14,069. The paying version costs from €8 a month under 30 to €30 from the age of 70.
With the C2S, consultations, medicines, most glasses, dental prostheses and hearing aids cost nothing, and doctors can’t charge extra fees except in a few cases, such as a home visit without medical need. The €2 flat fee per consultation and the €1 charge on medicines are waived. People who apply for the RSA on caf.fr get it automatically. Anyone else can check their rights on the official simulator at mesdroitssociaux.gouv.fr, then apply from their ameli account or with a paper form; the caisse answers within two months.
About 7.9 million people had the C2S in June 2025. In 2021, only an estimated 56 % of those entitled used it, and 34 % for the paying version.
Strengths
- Free, or €8 to €30 a month per person depending on age, for cover that includes most glasses, dentures and hearing aids.
- No extra doctors’ fees in most cases, and neither the €2 fee per consultation nor the €1 charge on medicines.
- Automatic for new RSA recipients, and the official simulator shows whether someone qualifies before any paperwork.
Weaknesses
- The income ceilings are low: a single person in mainland France earning more than €14,069 a year doesn’t qualify.
- It has to be renewed every year, and the caisse can take up to two months to decide on a complete file.
- It doesn’t exist in Wallis-et-Futuna, French Polynesia, New Caledonia or Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon.
Who it is for
Students, job seekers, part-time workers, retired people with a small pension and families on low incomes in France, especially those now paying for a mutuelle they could get for free or for a few euros.
Sources
- Complémentaire santé solidaire: Home page, Rapport annuel 2025 (January 2026), checked November 2026
- Ameli: La Complémentaire santé solidaire, l’essentiel (September 2026), Qui peut bénéficier de la Complémentaire santé solidaire ? (March 2026)
- Mes droits sociaux: simulateur