The checklist gridAudit grid · Company health plan
Opting out of the company health plan (mutuelle) in France: the automatic cases, those the agreement must provide, and the written request
The company health plan (mutuelle) is compulsory in France and the employer pays at least half of it (Social Security Code, article L911-7). An opt-out is possible, at your request, in set cases: the complémentaire santé solidaire, an individual policy held at hiring until its renewal date, another collective plan, including a spouse’s (article D911-2), or cases the company’s agreement provides.
Go to the tool: the checklist grid
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General legal information with official references and dated checks. It is not personalised advice: for a decision that commits you, have your situation checked by a qualified professional.
Let’s look at your situation
Give your employment contract, the health cover you already have and the act that set up the plan, if you were given it.
Example questions
Your question carries over after signup. Maximum 400 characters. Avoid health data and names.
How do you get the opt-out, step by step?
Five steps, from the case to the written request.
Identify your case
Some cases apply automatically (article D911-2); others only if the act setting up the plan provides them (article R242-1-6).
Read the company’s act
Collective agreement, referendum or the employer’s unilateral decision: it decides whether the fixed-term and part-time cases are open.
Gather the evidence
C2S certificate, individual policy with its renewal date, certificate from the other collective plan.
Ask in writing
The employer must be able to produce your request; for the act’s cases, it states that the employer explained the consequences of your choice beforehand.
Report any change
The opt-out ends with its reason: end of the C2S, renewal of the individual policy, end of the other cover.
Are you entitled to opt out of the company health plan?
Tick the situations that apply to you, give your individual policy’s renewal date or your contribution and gross pay, and whether the company’s act provides the optional cases: the grid sorts each case and says what the request must contain. The example: an individual policy until 31 December 2026 and a part-time job where the contribution would reach €62 for €580 gross.
Fictional example · the opt-out grid
An opt-out is possible: request it in writing, with your evidence.
- Cases allowing an opt-out
- 1
- Opt-out under the individual policy until
- 31 December 2026
- Contribution as a share of gross pay
- 10.69%
- Prior-information statement in the request
- Not required for these cases
1 · Opt-out possible0 · No opt-out1 · Conditions to verify
| Clause or point checked | Opt-out possible | No opt-out | Conditions to verify |
|---|---|---|---|
| I had an individual health policy when hiredarticle D911-2, 2° | Opt-out possible | ||
| Part-time or apprenticeshiparticle R242-1-6, 2° c | Conditions to verify |
Indicative result: the company’s act may keep only some cases, and the automatic opt-out does not cover death and disability plans; ask the employer for a copy of the act.
Which opt-out cases exist, and on what conditions?
First the automatic cases, then those that exist only if the company’s act provides them.
| Case | Condition | Text |
|---|---|---|
| Complémentaire santé solidaire (C2S) | While you receive it | Article D911-2, 1° |
| Individual policy | Held at hiring or when the plan starts, until its renewal date | Article D911-2, 2° |
| Other collective cover | Other job, spouse, public sector, Madelin, Alsace-Moselle, IEG | Article D911-2, 3° |
| Fixed-term or agency, under 3 months of cover | With an individual responsible policy | Articles L911-7 and D911-6 |
| There before a unilateral decision | If the employee must contribute | Law of 31 December 1989, article 11 |
| Fixed-term or agency of 12 months or more | If the act provides it, with individual cover | Article R242-1-6, 2° a |
| Fixed-term or agency under 12 months | If the act provides it | Article R242-1-6, 2° b |
| Part-time or apprentice | If the act provides it, contribution of at least 10% of gross pay | Article R242-1-6, 2° c |
The automatic opt-out only covers healthcare costs, not incapacity, disability or death cover (sheet F20740).
Sources: CSS D911-2 · CSS L911-7 · CSS D911-6 · CSS R242-1-6 · Service-public F20740
What do employees ask about the company health plan?
Does my individual policy exempt me for good?
No: the opt-out only runs until the renewal date of the individual policy held at hiring or when the plan started (article D911-2, 2°).
Is my spouse’s company plan enough?
Yes, if it is a compulsory collective plan covering you for the same risks, including as a dependant (article D911-2, 3°).
What is the health payment?
For a fixed-term or agency contract with under 3 months of cover, the employer pays a sum instead of its contribution, if you prove an individual responsible policy (article L911-7-1).
Does the opt-out cover death and disability plans?
Not the automatic opt-out, limited to healthcare costs; an employee there before a unilateral decision with a contribution can also refuse those plans (sheet F20740).
Can you refuse the company health plan?
Not freely: healthcare cover is collective and compulsory, and the employer funds at least half of it (Social Security Code, article L911-7).
An opt-out is an exception, at your initiative, in the cases the texts or the act setting up the plan provide; otherwise, joining is required.
Source: CSS L911-7
Which cases apply automatically?
The complémentaire santé solidaire, while it lasts; an individual policy held at hiring, until its renewal date; another collective cover for the same risks, including as a dependant (article D911-2).
A fixed-term or agency contract whose collective cover would last under 3 months, if you prove an individual responsible policy (articles L911-7 and D911-6); the employer then owes you the health payment (article L911-7-1).
Sources: CSS D911-2 · CSS L911-7 · CSS D911-6 · CSS L911-7-1
What about the cases the company’s agreement must provide?
Fixed-term or agency contracts of 12 months or more with individual cover, those under 12 months, part-time staff or apprentices whose contribution would reach 10% of gross pay: these opt-outs only exist if the act provides them (article R242-1-6).
The request then states that the employer explained the consequences of your choice beforehand, and the employer must be able to produce it.
Source: CSS R242-1-6
What does article D911-2 of the French Social Security Code say?
The three automatic opt-outs, and the proof the employer must keep.
Sans préjudice des dispositions du deuxième alinéa du III de l’article L. 911-7, peuvent se dispenser, à leur initiative, de l’obligation d’adhésion à la couverture en matière de remboursement complémentaire de frais occasionnés par une maladie, une maternité ou un accident mise en place dans leur entreprise :
1° Les salariés bénéficiaires d’une couverture complémentaire en application de l’article L. 861-3. La dispense ne peut jouer que jusqu’à la date à laquelle les salariés cessent de bénéficier de cette couverture ou de cette aide ;
2° Les salariés couverts par une assurance individuelle de frais de santé au moment de la mise en place des garanties ou de l’embauche si elle est postérieure. La dispense ne peut jouer que jusqu’à échéance du contrat individuel ;
Dans tous les cas, l’employeur doit être en mesure de produire la demande de dispense des salariés concernés.
In English, briefly (our summary, not an official translation): Employees may, at their own initiative, opt out of the compulsory company cover for healthcare costs: 1° those receiving the complementary cover of article L861-3, only until that cover or aid ends; 2° those covered by an individual health policy when the plan starts or when hired, if later, only until that policy’s renewal date. In every case, the employer must be able to produce the employees’ opt-out request. Our note: the 3° covers employees protected, even as dependants, by another collective scheme: another job, the public sector, a Madelin contract, the Alsace-Moselle scheme or the gas and electricity industries’ scheme.
Which texts does the opt-out rest on?
- Social Security Code, article L911-7 (compulsory cover)Légifrance
- Social Security Code, article D911-2 (automatic opt-outs)Légifrance
- Social Security Code, article D911-6 (3-month threshold)Légifrance
- Social Security Code, article L911-7-1 (health payment)Légifrance
- Social Security Code, article R242-1-6 (opt-outs provided by the act)Légifrance
- Can you refuse your company’s health or death and disability plan? (sheet F20740, in French)Service-public.fr · checked on 16 May 2024
Texts cited last checked: 27 September 2026