They don't accept the UK ehic now in our C.de S.When mine expired I had to get the European one. I now have my S1 form registered, and as I've never worked here ,I'm assuming a Niss isn't needed. At least i hope not as the thought of filling in another form on a PT official website is causing palpitations.!

If you have a registered S1, you will have been assigned a NISS, and your CdS will have it recorded, even though you may well have no record of it yourself.

I've had my appointment, and the NISS was not required.
There was a notice on the ticket machine that suggests it will be needed by the end of the year:


Centro de Saude notice

I had a shock when I went to the farmacia to pick up the medicine prescribed.
I thought the prescription said 20 euros for 4 boxes, but it was for just one box.
With the government subsidy mentioned by the pharmacist, that means each pill costs 2 euros.

Did they ask you if you wanted generic tablets? Ours does, and they're cheaper than the branded medication.

I am picking up mixed messages here. A niss is for " everyone " and if you have a "pension" . Is a niss only for pensioners or does everyone need one.

When I saw the true cost, I asked if there was a generic, and was told there wasn't.
Does the price shown in the top right of the prescription not refer to the cost of the generic medication, if available?

For the NISS, my understanding is: previously non-working pensioners could not have a NISS and didn't really need one (although this meant that some SS offices would not let pensioners have a Portuguese EHIC (this was a problem for early pensioners)).
It seems to have become more flexible in the last year or so, and now, it seems, everyone can have a NISS.
And at some point in time you will need it for a Centro de Saude appointment (or pay a penalty).

Can confirm that if you have a S1 registered you will geta NISS. Called at my local CdS yesterday to check if that was so and to get the number,and the (very nice!) lady on the counter printed all the details off.

I used to have a Portuguese EHIC but when it ran out and I applied for a new one, was told NISS needed. On application was refused on the grounds I hadn't worked here or contributed. Can't remember date this happened but sometime during Covid restrictions. Still being resident in UK, can't get S1 so will be interesting to see what will happen now if I reapply for NISS.

With the Biometric Resident Card it is there with your fiscal number and utente number