How to Call Assurance Maladie (CPAM) From Abroad

Quick answer: From France, call Assurance Maladie at 36 46. From abroad, the published replacement is +33 1 84 90 36 46, but Assurance Maladie's own support forum has multiple cases of that number not working reliably for callers outside France. The ameli.fr online account's secure messaging is the more dependable channel if you need a response rather than a live call.

A published number that doesn't always connect

Unlike most institutions in this series, this isn't a case of no number existing or two numbers conflicting, there's one specific, publicly cited replacement for 36 46 when calling from abroad, +33 1 84 90 36 46. The complication is that Assurance Maladie runs its own public support forum, forum-assures.ameli.fr, staffed partly by its own team, and that forum has direct reports of this number failing: calls that default to detecting the caller as being in France and route back into the domestic 36 46 system, which then doesn't work. A non-certified reply from an ameli team member on one such thread suggested trying a landline instead of a mobile line or app, without a guaranteed fix.

What's published, and what we can confirm about it

Line	Number	Status
General line (France)	36 46	Confirmed by ameli's own certified forum answers; domestic short code only
General line (from abroad)	+33 1 84 90 36 46	Published as the replacement, but the ameli forum documents real failures for callers abroad
English-speaking line	+33 9 74 75 36 46 (newer) or +33 8 11 36 36 46 (older)	Both numbers appear across sources; multiple forum threads report the English line unreachable for extended periods

What actually works more reliably

Your ameli.fr account's secure messaging. Most routine questions, card issues, reimbursement status, document requests, go through "Ma messagerie" in your account rather than the phone line, and it works from anywhere with an internet connection.
The "Contacter ma caisse" option inside your account, which routes to your specific CPAM rather than the general switchboard.
If you must call, try +33 1 84 90 36 46 from a landline rather than a mobile app or VoIP line if the first attempt fails, this is the workaround ameli's own forum has suggested in documented cases.

What to have ready if you do get through

Your social security number (numéro de sécurité sociale)
Your date of birth
Details of the specific request: a reimbursement, a card replacement, or an account issue

Best time to call

Ameli's certified forum answers point to the quieter windows for 36 46 as 8:30am to 10am or 12pm to 2pm Paris time, when wait times are shorter.

UK: France is usually 1 hour ahead, so a direct translation of your local time works for most of the year.
US East Coast: France is 6 hours ahead, so call in your morning for France's afternoon.
UAE/Gulf: France is 2 to 3 hours behind, so call in your late morning or early afternoon.
Australia (Sydney): France is 8 to 10 hours behind, effectively the opposite time of day.

The cheaper way to actually make the call

If you do get +33 1 84 90 36 46 to connect, it's a standard French number, and calling it from outside France means paying your own carrier's international rate. With DialVia, you call it over Wi-Fi from your browser instead, and since this number doesn't always connect from abroad, it helps that a call that doesn't connect costs you nothing:

Open DialVia and sign up (about 30 seconds)
Select France as the destination
Enter the number: 1 84 90 36 46
Hit call

Frequently asked questions

What's Assurance Maladie's number for calling from abroad? +33 1 84 90 36 46 is the published replacement for the domestic 36 46 short code, though it doesn't reliably connect for every caller abroad according to ameli's own support forum.

Why doesn't 36 46 work outside France? It's a domestic short code, the same category as Orange's 3900 or SFR's 1023 elsewhere in this series, and doesn't route from a foreign line.

Is there an English-speaking line? Yes, though the number has changed over time (older: +33 8 11 36 36 46, newer: +33 9 74 75 36 46), and multiple forum threads report it going down for weeks at a stretch.

What's the most reliable way to reach Assurance Maladie from abroad? Your ameli.fr account's secure messaging, it isn't subject to the same call-routing issues as the phone lines and works from any country with internet access.

Need to know what your coverage actually looks like while you're abroad? See does Assurance Maladie cover you outside France, or the full guide to French healthcare and insurance from abroad.

👉 Try DialVia to call from your browser in 30 seconds. Didn't connect? You don't pay. Or return to the DialVia homepage to learn more.