Brano77

:[QUOTE=LittleWeed;8857956] Many thanks for the information. An opportunity to improve my Gallego and possibly save on Sanitas!!

Mitzyboy

[QUOTE=LittleWeed;8857956] So .... anyone can move to Galicia and get State Health Care absolutely free with no strings attached?

LittleWeed

[QUOTE=Mitzyboy;8858069] Well um, yes.

Bri and Katee

What is the conditions for Murcia region? We both retire permanently to our home next year but are early retirees, she is 55 I will be 57. Both of us have existing medical conditions, myself asthma and my wife with thyroid trouble. Both conditions of course require constant medication and gp checks every six months or so.

Are we going to be able to get state treatment ala nhs here or are we going to have to buy private healthcare?

Mitzyboy

To be honest, it's getting very confusing.

I keep hearing stories about health care being free to everyone in Spain due to law changes, but I don't see lots of people telling me that they are actually receiving it. Then some say that it depends if you have a really low income .... but then I ask myself how will the Spanish know if you are on a low income, as you could be hiding income in Spain.

I still cant see how a country in a crisis can extend free healthcare to every foreigner that comes here ... I don't understand how they will afford it, as they wont get the costs back from the respective govenments like they do for a pensioner. So someone will end up paying for it, surely

So my answer is go see the health centre and ask what their view is, because there seem to be two different views on the forums. Or ask the UK embassy for their take on it maybe

shellou

Doesnt help that the laws across Spain differ!
Being in Communidad de Valencia and not currently paying into the seguridad social I had to join the Convenio patientes privado scheme which costs around 270 euros a quarter. I could have gone down the 'sin recursos' route but to prove you are 'without means' is a long time consuming process with no guarantees and I needed to get some health issues sorted. I would have gone down the private route but none of the companies I contacted would take on my existing condition.

If you live in the Costa Blanca it is really worth looking at the puma22 website www.puma22.org. On there you will find lots of of useful information and also you can contact them for advice or help. They work closely with the consulate and the conselleria de salud.They were great at helping me when I was stuck and didnt know where to turn!!!!

Im still hoping this new law where all residents are entitled to free healthcare comes into effect but Im not holding my breath!

Mitzyboy

Well yes in some ways it will be good .... but as I said .. someone will have to pay for it. Increased taxes? Who knows. That wont endear the Spaniards to any expats really, if they end up paying more taxes so we can get free health care!

LittleWeed

The actual cost is estimated at under 150 million euros pa to extend cover to the remaining (about) 200,000 Spaniards and foreigners excluded from the system. At around 0.25% of the health budget, the impact on taxes is negligible.

Although as you say the Government may not wish to extend that cover to foreign residents, this looks to be more of political issue than a financial one. Foreign residents also pay taxes which contribute to funding of the health services.

Mitzyboy

I still can't figure it, but hey, we'll see. I find it hard to believe there are only 200,000 Spaniards and Expats excluded. For one thing, all those Brits, Dutch, French, Germans etc that have been hiding in the woodwork and never bothered to register will appear once they think they can get free health care.

HBG

I read somewhere recently that for every foreign (EU) pensioner registered on the Spanish health service, the Government receives something like £3,000 per annum from EU funds, which must leave them with a profit, judging by the cost of private medical insurance. Maybe some of that profit can be used to provide free treatment for those under pension age too?

In my part of Spain, retired expats outnumber those under retirement age.

avocados

People seem to have misunderstood the implications of the "universal healthcare for all" law. Nothing much has changed for the public - the change refers to a small section of people, mostly self-employed who are/were covered by "mutuas". They will now have coverage through SS, which was previously denied to them.

To get healthcare within the system, one of the following remains true....
a person must be paying into SS (if unemployed, coverage continues until unemployment benefit expires and for 3 months after that.)
Minors are cover.
If not paying SS, a person can sign up with a relative (paying SS), with whom they are living or with a person(paying SS) within the same household with whom they have been living with for minimum of one year (proof is required).
Resident pensioners.
Finally, "sin recurso" but resident within Spain.


That covers most people. BTW, coverage is based on residency, not nationality. It's amazing the number of Spanish that think their nationality qualifies them for coverage.

It's ironic, but some funcionarios (my OH) does not pay SS and is not covered by the system. He is covered by Muface. He has to go private! He can't go to Centro Salud.
Up to recently, he couldn't even get a EHIC (a recent law change will allow it). It is hoped that wihin the next year or two, that this category will also come under the SS system.

LittleWeed

One of the problems with the system at present is its complexity. People can also qualify for health care in number of other ways. Here are some examples;

Disabled people (Ley de Integration Social de Minusvalidos)
Conscientious objectors (Ley Reguladora de la Objection Consiencia)
People in receipt of a non contribributory pensions (Ley 26/1990 de Perceptores de Pensiones no Contributivas)
Regional Government legislation in Galicia, Cataluña and (I believe) Navarra which extends health care to all residents of those regions.
Regional Government legislation in Valencia, Murcia, Madrid and La Rioja which means anyone "en baja" from any of the SS regimes has their health care extended indefinitetely.
Regional Government legislation in Valencia, Murcia and Andalusia which offers health care to non-EU immigrants.

Given that this all adds up to 99.4 % of the population (according to the Defensor del Pueblo) the question is: why have such an horrendously complex system to exclude just 0.6% of the population ? Particularly since everyone in the country now pays for the system thru general taxation (the Social Security system hasn´t contributed anything to the running of the health services since 1998).

The impression I have is that these changes don´t just affect people currently covered by "mutuas" of which the "lettered professionals" (eg. lawyers) are the largest single group (around 70,000) and, probably, the most vocal. They are excluded for very similar reasons as many ex-pats - are not affiliated to the SS and have an annual income in excess of around 8000 pa. Since, as you point out, this has nothing to do with nationality, I can´t see how the Government could include these "lettered profesionals" in the system while still excluding the remaining few thousand Spanish nationals and foreign residents.

cricketman

Yes so I understand, everybody is covered by the state healthcare in Spain. The problem is this message hasnt filtered down to the local health centres. There are a number of different confusing laws but they are overlapping and noone is left out. The new law coming in place shortly is going to make the law easier and hopefully communicate and train the funcionarios involved.

For foreigners and Spanairds, they must contribute to the social security every month to get healthcover (if they are under pensionable age) i.e. this may be more than private cover.

The only other option is if you can prove you are "sin recursos" as somebody mentioned. If you go down that route make sure you have done everything like you should have done and declared all your worlwide income, or you'll be in big trouble!

The system is still going to be contributions based, so it is not becoming like the NHS.

Mitzyboy

But we're being told that everyone (expats) in Galicia is covered by the state system ... I saw a post not so log ago saying it was the same in Andalucia

Free health care for all ....

LittleWeed

CM - do you have any more info on this new law ? I´d heard the Govt plans to change the system but I don´t know exactly what they´re proposing. From the debate over the last couple of years on this issue, I´d pretty much assumed that Government would remove the residual connection to the Social Security system thereby making health care a right of residence.