Declared dead after an error, a resident of Haut-Rhin will regain his rights after several weeks of combat

“I’m alive and well!” : Maurice Schaffhauser likes to remind us of this when we go to meet him. His misfortune was revealed this week by our colleagues from Latest News from Alsace. After the death of his wife on September 12, this resident of Wickerschwihr, near Colmar, received a phone call from his wife's pension fund telling him announces that he has died!

An obstacle course undertaken to regain one's rights

The sixty-year-old falls from his chair and passes his son to his interlocutor who tells him that he is alive and well. An error which automatically results in the loss of rights. Maurice realizes when going to the pharmacy that his health card is blocked. He then goes to the CPAM: they explain to him that he must produce a life certificate. It then approaches organisms to prove that it is alive. It is now done.

“I can thank the mayor of Wickerschwihr who helped me a lot with the process,” underlines Maurice Schaffhauser. Processing the file takes time, and he must advance doctor's fees for medication and treatment. He continues to fight to quickly obtain his vital card. It’s a real obstacle course for the retiree which multiplies the phone calls, the procedures. At the end of October, things begin to unblock: the retiree receives a certificate but not yet the new vital card.

Apologies from the CPAM du Haut-Rhin and a happy ending

Contacted by France Bleu Alsace, the CPAM du Haut-Rhin said it regrets this situationshe will send a letter of apology to the retiree from the director explaining to him what happened. The CPAM specifies that Mr. Schauffhauser was declared dead by mistake at CARSAT on October 3. As these are communicating databases, the CPAM also considered him to be deceased and blocked his vital card.

The good news fell this Friday, November 29, after several weeks of struggle: the vital card will arrive at the retiree's home on December 15.

“I will finally be able to mourn the loss of my wife,” whispers Maurice Schaffhauser. He also says that a person contacted him after reading the article in the regional press, she took a year of steps to get everything back to normal.