lynnxa

health care is as 'free' as it is in the UK if you are a working family..........not 'on the black' as so many are, but with proper papers & paying 'national insurance' as we do

my dh is in hospital for a pretty major op at the moment (see lounge) and so far I am very impressed - ambulance within minutes - dh doesn't speak spanish but most of the staff speak at least a little english - and many of the doctors speak it really well

montgomail

Read the thread on Lounge - is he in Denia hospital?

Chiclanagir

No, in the UK you do not need to be working and paying N.I. to get free treatment on the NHS.

Chiclanagir

Only if you are working in Spain and paying into the social security system. Valencia have their own rules and are autonomous.

lynnxa

true, that's how it is in practice....................but would I wrong in saying that the original intention was that everyone would pay NI contributions?

lynnxa

he is...........they are fantastic there.............though they've just told him they can't operate today because he isn't cleared out enough....just as I was about to leave to see him. I'll wait now til I can take the kids this evening

SueG

We are moving to Alibir in the Alicante region in January - renting at first whilst looking for a business to purchase. Can I have suggestions please as to what you think we ought to do about healthcare? Will the E106 cover us short term until we find a business and then pay into the Spanish scheme? We both have medication on a daily basis - me for thyroid and hubby - blood pressure and warfarin. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you

mikelincs

Suiggest you do as we did and get a 3 months prescription for the thyroid and BP tablets, I suspect hubby will need his warfarin levels checked regularly, so he needs the E106. As you are moving to Valencia, you may well find that you can get FREE medical care anyway. Get registered on the Padron ASAP, don't know of the exact way to get registered with the Dr, but we had our aftersales people do it for us as we bought a re-sale and paid for 12 months after sales service which covered all that.

scampicat

Right, this is what I understand about Healthcare. (We are in Granada province).

When you leave the UK, if you have paid enough Class One Insurance Contributions, you are entitled to an E106, which will cover you for free healthcare in Spain for about two years.

If you are of State Pension age, or on certain British State Benefits (Incpacity Benefit is one), you will be entitled to an E121, which will entitle you to free healthcare in Spain permanently if you are an OAP, or if you are on Incapacity Benefit it will last for as long as you are on the benefit. You can have financially depndent members of your family covered on your E121.

Otherwise, you either have to pay into the Spanish system or have private health insurance.

Other matters : My last electricity bill for the last two months was a total of 47.39 euros, 10 euros of that is standing charge and 6.54 euros is IVA.

To the OP, yes, Spain is pretty much how we imagined it was going to be; as someone else said you just stay indoors in July and August like the Spanish do. I actually find the heat here easier to cope with than in the Uk, because not only is it drier heat, but it is catered for - every cafe has a shaded outdoor area, no-one would expect you to sit in the sun like they do in the UK, and air-con is much more common in cars, large stores etc.

I agre with the poster who says unless you have an independent income like a pension, be aware that jobs are hard to come by for expats, especially if you don't speak Spanish.

Hope this helps.

mikelincs

If one of a couple is a UK pensioner, then their partner is automatically covered, even though they may NOT be of pensionable age themselves, they DON'T have to be financially dependent, however you do have to ensure that the partner is included in the E121 form from Newcastle.

montgomail

Pleased to hear it as I have heard a lot of good reports about Denia hospital since I bought a holiday apartment there - only about 5 minutes walk from the hospital as it happens. It's reassuring to know that if me or my family are ever in need, that we will be looked after.

lynnxa

and you can get translators free 11am-2pm, or for just 12E an hour outside that time

We used one yesterday morning, just in case my spanish wasn't up to finding out exactly what was going to happen, but as it turned out, the doc spoke pretty good English, and the translator in the end said that my spanish was way better than I thought, so just let us get on with it. A lot of the nursing & cleaning staff speak at least some English too, so even my hubby, who has never yet learned much spanish, is managing

montgomail

I have read somewhere that a local charity offered a translation service during certain hours. It is something that I would be interested in doing if I lived full time in Spain and my language was up to scratch.

I do know also that children are put to the front of the queue in busy times as last summer our neighbours daughter had an ear infection and was treated within an hour.

tim hortons man

Unlike most posters here I live in Madrid and well it took a while to adjust I am very happy living here. I love the fact that in mid November I can walk the dog with no jacket on and that the people love being outside. Its a strange feeling to be walking at 8 or 10 at night and seeing the streets full of people. I find the sunny weather (not withstanding the last week of rain) makes me want to be outside all the time. Cost of living is much cheaper here, about a third less than Germany which is a third less than the UK (London) But still 50% higher than the American mid west (according to some friends that moved here)

The negatives; The main negative I find is the Spanish just don't care, garbage, forget recycling, half the time it doesn't even get put in the bin. Internet and TV are flaky (so far the telephone has been ok).

But by far the worst aspect of living in spain is how poorly the houses are built. Maybe its just Madrid as no one else has complained about it. The worse cowboy builder would have problems competing with the Spanish, things are just built to third world standards. Nothing is trimmed in or sealed, when it rains it pours through the roof, the windows the walls. Even the local mall had to put buckets out.

Our laundry is situated on the porch so I can't run the washer when it rains as they don't have outdoor plugs. You have to live here to understand how poorly everything is built.

Like I said, there are a lot of positives to living in Spain but good quality housing isn't one of them. Expect the worse and you won't be disapointed.

Dizzy Mich

We've been here since 1st June.....we are a young family...in our thirrties 2 small children...
It's only been 5 months but I don't want to go back.....We miss friends and family heaps but have had visitors every month so far so we have nbeen lucky. And have met some fab friends in the short time we have been here.

We live in Oliva, Valencia......and love it ! We are learning Spanish, as we want to communicate better and make spanish friends.

The Spanish /Valencian people are wonderful....they are patient,kind, generous and everyne seems to have a great sense of family values. Which is why we moved to Spain.

There's no looking back for us......it's still a mind field as far as Healthcare etc....we have only used the Pharmacia's so far which have been marvellous !

My husband is in an odd predicament as he works via the Internet remotely for a UK company ....talking to a solicitor next week to sort as we are worried about the healthcare issues......altho glad to see they wont turn you away in an emergency

Off now to put the kids to bed......

Spain is great...in our opinion ! Summers hot but I'm told you get aclimatised...

Bye for now x