Went to the social security office to renew our medical cards as we have done for the last 4 years without any problems. We were informed that we are now NOT entitled to these cards, I also asked about the the blue plastic card EHIC which we got in Portugal for healthcare in any other country and was told this was not valid either. On returning home we phoned AFPOP to ask their advice and was informed that this is correct. In 2008 the UK and Portugal cancelled the reciprocal healthcare agreement and it has taken the Portuguese government 2 years to play catchup, so what this means is once the government does catchup, you will not be entitled to free medical care and a reduction for prescriptions. If you receive a British government pension you have to contact your pension provider to apply for the forms to start the process of having medical cover here . Also people of pensionable age can have an EHIC issued by Britain . But people living here permanently, not on a state pension, are not entitled to an EHIC from Portugal or from Britain . So if you are under pension age it seems the only cover is to have private medical insurance and travel insurance every time you leave Portugal .

that is scary

so if you came to PT on your hols and were under 65 your UK EHIC is no good?

if you came to PT on your hols and are over 65 are you covered with your UK EHIC card?

No you are ok, what we are talking about is people like us who are permanent here. We had a PT. card which covered us if we went back to the UK as we are not entitled to a UK card as we are resident here.

thanks chopper

Or pay into the PT system, which I was always under the impression was what you had to do once your E106 expired if you didn't have private cover.

For those not retired, as we understand the situation.

You can only register with a doctor if you have a social security number.

You can only get this if you work or are self employed.

Basically you have to making a contribution to gain access to the system.

[QUOTE=steppitoe;8753273]For those not retired, as we understand the situation.

You can only register with a doctor if you have a social security number.

QUOTE]

when you say "socail security number"...do you mean NIF/numero de contribrinte(national insurance number) or this is different?

as you can for sure get a national insurance number without working etc....how else could you start working if you don't have one?!

I was under the impression that a NIF number is your tax number, and Segura Social? (national insurance) is something completly different.

hmmm...or are we talking "numero de utente" which can also be obtained with even being a resident never mind paying in

No, you get another number when you register with Social Security.
Haven't done it myself yet as I thought it was only needed by those working or claiming pensions but apparently everyone living here should do it.....

Think you need to check that one. As far as I am aware you cannot get a social security number unless you are employed, self-employed or on a PT pension.

That's what I thought but the Centre de Saude where I am registered said that I had to have one. I haven't done it yet but I do know others in the same position as me (not working and not getting a state pension) that have got theirs.

I have I think mentioned this in the past , and that a lot of folks come here on pvt pensions thinking they are ok with just an ehic card , nothing , or the right to free health care cos they paid into the brit one.

with these recorded entries at passport control there is a record of how long folk have been in the country rendering ehic and most multitrip insurance invalid.

SO Anyone that doesnt have medicare insurance , doesnt pay into the ni system in portugal , and is technically a non resident can have thousands in medical bills with a simple fall never mind a serious accident.If a medical condition like a heart attack or stroke happens that can cost thousands for repatriation alone and hundreds of thousands in care costs.Cheerio dream in the sun , hello nightmare.

Methinks the RESident should have a regular note of this in its pages , it already carries adverts for healthcare anyway.

This is such a minefield. We've been here 9 months and still haven't quite got our heads around it all - we are resident here, have income from the UK and the US and are still working out where we pay our tax. We ended up getting private healthcare so we didn't have to live in fear!

B

When we moved here 4 years ago the UK and Portugal had a reciprocal health agreement ( we do you, you do us ), this was one of the reasons we moved here, so you WERE entitled to the same cover as PT people,you went to the social office you showed them, in my case my private pension details, you got your number, then you went to the Centro du Saude.The problem being now as I explained in the first thread that this agreement is now finished and the ladies in the office told us we are not entitled to anything, one of AFPOP suggestions was to register as self employed pay NI contributions, but that will be a non starter as we have private medical. The Resident has an article this week but it does not tell you to much, we are going to the Centro du Saude to see if they can shed anylight on this and find out if we are still covered by the Cartao de Utente,let you know what they are saying.