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Getting covered: the steps to access universal health protection (PUMa)
To get universal health protection (PUMa), you register with the CPAM. The CPAM links the beneficiaries and the health insurance (assurance maladie).
Key points of the sheet
- The beneficiaries are people who have lived in France for more than 3 months.
- You fill in the personal request form to open rights, 1 per adult. With dependent minor children, you also fill in the form to add the children to your file.
- If necessary, you provide proof of presence in France for more than 3 months. For example: rent receipts, bills, medical prescriptions. They must show a name and a date.
- If you have them, you attach the bills for care already received. You give a stable postal address with a letterbox in your name.
- Without a fixed home, you can ask for a domiciliation (a postal address).
- You make a copy of all the documents. You send the file to the CPAM of the département or drop it at the nearest CPAM, or at the MSA if it covers you.
Words to know
- universal health protection (PUMa) (protection universelle maladie (PUMa))
- It is a protection of the health insurance for people living in France for more than 3 months.
- primary health insurance fund (CPAM) (Caisse primaire d’assurance maladie (CPAM))
- It is the body where you register; it links the beneficiaries and the health insurance.
- proof of presence in France (justificatifs de présence en France)
- They are documents such as rent receipts or bills; they must show a name and a date.
- form to add the children to your file (formulaire de rattachement des enfants)
- You fill in this form if you have dependent minor children.
- domiciliation (postal address)
- You can ask for it when you have no fixed home.
Test yourself: 3 questions
How long must you have lived in France to benefit from PUMa?
In French, the language of the exam: Depuis combien de temps faut-il résider en France pour bénéficier de la PUMa ?
The beneficiaries of PUMa are people who have lived in France for more than 3 months.
Where must you register to get PUMa?
In French, the language of the exam: Où faut-il s'enregistrer pour avoir la PUMa ?
To get PUMa, you register with the CPAM.
What must the proofs of presence in France show?
In French, the language of the exam: Que doivent mentionner les justificatifs de présence en France ?
The sheet says these documents must show a name and a date.
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More in this topic (Health)
- Healthcare cover: the different types of health insurance
- Health prevention and promotion (1/2)
- Health prevention and promotion (2/2)
Source
Sheet “La prise en charge : les démarches pour accéder à la protection universelle maladie (PUMa)” of the French Ministry of the Interior: formation-civique.interieur.gouv.fr. Content published under the Etalab Open Licence 2.0. This page is a plain-language adaptation made by Hexaciv, which is not an official site: if in doubt, the ministry's text is the one that counts.
Ministry sheet read on 23 October 2026, still identical on 25 October 2026.