SgtTroy

SEF may beg to differ though. Maybe because they don't have much room for interpretation of EU law...

https://www.sef.pt/en/pages/faq-detalhe.aspx?nID=8

What do I need to apply?
Documents and Requirements:

1. A valid Identity Card / Passport;

2. A written Affidavit declaring that you have a Professional activity as a worker or as self-employed in Portugal; or An Affidavit, declaring that you have sufficient funds for you and for your family, and that you are covered by health insurance when the same applies to Portuguese citizens in your country of origin;

Same across the EU as a matter of fact. Just two examples.

Ireland:
https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/moving_country/moving_to_ireland/rights_of_residence_in_ireland/residence_rights_eu_national.html#
You can stay in Ireland for up to 3 months without restriction. If you plan to stay more than 3 months, you must either:

• Be engaged in economic activity (employed or self-employed) or
• Have enough resources and sickness insurance to ensure that you do not become a burden on the social services of Ireland or
• Be enrolled as a student or vocational trainee or
• Be a family member of a EU citizen in one of the previous categories.

Malta:
http://aditus.org.mt/Publications/fa...Unationals.pdf
Union Citizen’s with sufficient resources for themselves and their accompanying family members may also reside in Malta under the Order. Entitlement to a residence card will follow providing evidence of:
• Proof of sufficient resources for the Union citizen and accompanying family members
• Comprehensive sickness insurance valid in Malta for the Union citizen and accompanying family members
• Valid ID document
Reference to sufficient resources in the above two categories refers to having enough resource so as not to become an “unreasonable burden” on Malta’s social assistance system.

Red Eric

Some light reading for you. Page 15 on - here's a foretaste :
MANUAL DE ACOLHIMENTO NO ACESSO AO SISTEMA DE SAÚDE DE CIDADÃOS ESTRANGEIROS

SgtTroy

Nowhere in the world, even less so in continental Europe, a departmental (SEF, SNS, etc) manual has precedence over the law. I hope you do know that.

The law may not have been consistently applied through the years, maybe even not in the majority of the cases, but times have changed. Above all, the law is the law, personal preferences and/or opinions are irrelevant.

As a matter of fact, the OP's options are narrowed down to just two:

1. She can insist that she has the right to be included with SNS based on the residence certificate only. This may, or may not work (as I understand it hasn't worked so far for "the best part of a year"), with the outcome-related variables being the law application, factual evidence, time, effort, and cost, including cost of covering ongoing health issues until a resolution is achieved.
"Gosh, how could they do this to you, it's so unfair, you must complain!" is fine, but does not indeed provide a secure way forward.

2. She can finally consult a solicitor, or an accountant, or both (which should have been done prior to taking residence), to clarify where she stands currently. Following such consultation(s) she would have the options to choose from.

I am afraid we are going round in circles, and I really don't have the time for that, especially considering the sunny weather outside, so I will refrain from posting further on this thread.

liveaboard

Much information online is way out of date.
This is quite common in Portugal, since official webpages are rarely updated.
Members of this forum often quote government webpages, and even government offices do it.
That fact is, the law was changed a while ago; 5 years maybe.
In Portugal ALL legal residents now have a right to national health cover.
I am one of them.
This is not an EU thing, it's a Portugal thing.
You just go to your local health center and register.
If they won't do it, go higher up until they do.
That's all.

Red Eric

In which case, may I suggest that you acquaint yourself with the relevant law(s).

Start here, for example :
Lei n.º 95/2019

JayneJayne

Sorry for not posting sooner but I would like to thank you all for your thoughts on the matter. We have properly registered as self sufficient. Proof of income etc was registered with the Camara etc. No-one has ever asked us about private health insurance - nor had we been advised that we needed it. We are properly registered for tax and complete tax returns in both Portugal and the UK as appropriate. I only wondered if anyone else had been given the run-around by the local centro de saude who have refused to update our status and remove the EHIC card despite my telling them that they are using it incorrectly. Having said that, my husband has just received his first AZ jab because he is in the extremely vulnerable group, so something obviously works. We have been in contact with both SEF and the UK embassy in Lisbon and, to be honest, have received no definitive info.

Red Eric

You definitely do not need private insurance. Yes, I have heard of other people being registered incorrectly via EHIC and being unable to convince local health centre staff that it is wrong to do that.

There's a form you can fill in online to enquire about / report administrative difficulties to elsewhere in the SNS.

Info here, with reference to other bodies which you might alternatively approach, and link to this page below
Perguntas frequentes

sportpix

Not sure if this of interest or relevance but I received an email yesterday from the UK health service to let me know they had received a message from the Portuguese health service re my now being resident here and will be sending me an S1 form. I have no idea what an S1 is but I will not be turning it down. The only thing the UK health service want to know is whether I’m receiving state pension from any other countries. I wish!

Red Eric

The S1 form is used when your Social Security cover comes from a different country to the one you reside in.

As a UK State Pensioner resident in Portugal, it is the UK which covers you. The S1 form enables the PT authorities to record you as such and recover the costs of your healthcare from the UK.

UK-funded healthcare: using an S1 form in Portugal

sportpix

thank you for this, Red, and the link to the uk site which has now forewarned me that I must register this S1 when I receive it at the local clinic. Hopefully I will get this done correctly. 👍

Rambling archer

We found that the S1 had to be passed to the Social Security office (not the Health Centre - they do the health bit, and the social security does the admin/money/contributions side). The SS then (eventually) put it into their records, and most importantly communicate with the UK who confirm that they are happy to take you on board as one of their pensioners, and approve Portugal to take care of you - the S1 is stamped and approved by SS Portugal and a copy of this is passed to you for your records - important that you keep it to show your status as UK pensioner receiving health service care in Portugal - and they ALSO send it to the UK so the records are set straight.
THEN the Uk should invite you to apply for an EHIC which covers you in Europe for travel health care, as resident in Portugal (EU) but paid for by UK (pensioner). This once had to be done by phone to the NHS Business Dept for EHIC/GHICs which caused some hilarity trying to confirm and spell out Portuguese address!!, but now can be done online because of the pandemic.
If you should go back to the UK while still resident in Pt, you are eligible for health care there (not just for travel/emergency purposes) so you should show both the S1 and the EHIC to cover all bases!

sportpix

Thank you for the added info, RA. Where might the Social Security Office be located? The town hall ? I didn't even know there was a Social Security Office. 30+ years of non-EU living means I've got to learn everything all over again, and in yet another language... Good to also know about the EHIC providing European health care. I hope I never need it, though...

BillBullock

Sportpix. I've just completed the whole procedure having started in August 2020. It took ages for the S1 form to arrive from the UK. The Social Security office in Olhão then took 2 months to process my application and send me confirmation which included a Social Security number. It then took until March for them to communicate back to the UK so that a new EHIC could be sent out to me from the UK. It arrived yesterday and my wife's is expected soon. Beat that if you can and mine was a straightforward case.

sportpix

Thank you BB. Having received another confirmation email yesterday from the UK healthcare people I hope my situation goes faster than yours. Curiously, their message of confirmation also suggested buying private healthcare coverage until all of this paperwork is in place, which has now got me scratching my head. I have seen numerous posts on BE stating quite clearly that PT residents have the right to use the public health system, but is this actually correct? Having yesterday shelled out for a bike (got totally sick of walking 10km+ every day), if I have a whoopsie on the Lagos prom on the test run this morning and require medical treatment do I have to pay the cost of private medical treatment at the public clinic rather than the assumed discounted public fee? Confused...

Red Eric

Have you got any sort of document from the health centre yet?

Presumably the communication from the UK was in response to you presenting yourself there for enrolment