PatsyS

Hi Folks,
We have our piece of heaven in Carihuela (Costa Del Sol) It has taken us two years to renovate and we always had the intention to move there. But along the way I discovered that we are only able to reside there for up to six months before we forfeit our right to NHS. I am on quite a few medications and have quaterly checkups at the hospital (I intended on traveling back to maintain these)
So I am asking for your advise and options that are open to us and the cost implications.
Remember - I have already made the mistake of thinking we could just up and move and retain our right to NHS.
Thank you in advance.

Pulaski

If you still intend to keep traveling back to the UK for NHS check-ups, you have no alternative to maintaining a home in the UK and spending at least 183 days a year there.

PatsyS

Thank you for your reply Pulaski
I intended on returning but would like to know what other options there are, such as healthcare in Spain. There are so many Expats in Spain that I am thinking there must be various ways to assure healthcare is available.

Casa Santo Estevo

Options are:
1) Work in Spain.
2) Purchase a private insurance.
3) Keep making your NI contribution payments in the UK.
4) If you are a pensioner (you receive a UK State Pension) then obtain a S1 form and register that here in Spain.
5) If you are one of those who have taken early retirement then read this link on the NHS website.

Do not forget you will need to register to live in Spain. When that time comes no doubt you will have more questions.

snikpoh

or, after 12 months here (having signed on the list of foreigners and done tax returns etc.) then you can sign up for the Convenio Especial at about 60€ per person per month.

Why have you mentioned point 3 - making NI payments doesn't (necessarily) give you access to the UK NHS.

Casa Santo Estevo

Well you do not pay for nothing do you?
I got the understanding that the OP wants health cover now rather than 12 months away, because of the need to have check ups and medicine. Hence I never wrote about the alternative you suggested.

Horlics

You do not have to pay National Insurance to access the NHS. NI is a contribution taken from people who work and paid by businesses that employ people.

Example: A 19 year old who left school at 16 but has never worked and has never paid NI can get treatment on the NHS.

Example: A person who worked for 35 years and paid NI all that time, but who has now retired early and lives off savings and no longer pays NI, can get treatment on the NHS.

Casa Santo Estevo

The NI is not free.
The system is funded through general taxation. General health care is therefore free at the point of use for people legally resident in the United Kingdom. But you still have to pay taxes to keep your cover on going. Everyone can get some sort of emergency care no matter what their status is.
The system covers for those cases (and more) you have quoted. There used to be enough in the kitty for that. But since the banking crisis there have been many wiggles to reduce the person payments.
So back to the question;
I have given the answer to that in post4.

Horlics

No, you don't.

Casa Santo Estevo

Please stop your squabbling with me.
Please be more helpful and answer the OP's concerns.

snikpoh

Perhaps if you gave right answers, then we wouldn't have to correct you!

scot47

Payment of National Insurance has no bearing on eligibility for the National Health Service. There is no link. NI creates entitlement to a variety of benefits including State Retirement Pension. Eligibility for NHS is related to residence.

Fred James

That is not entirely true. UK state pensioners (who of course earned that right by means of NI contributions) now have a right to the same full NHS care as a UK resident even though they no longer live in the UK so long as they have the S1 form and live in the EU or EEA.

Horlics

Exactly.

Snikpoh gave the best answer so far when he advised about buying into the Spanish system.

I am not squabbling with you, I'm only correcting the incorrect statements you are making, which might not be helpful to the Op if they take them as fact.

lormar

I, like PatsyS, am planning the move to Spain in the not too distant future and would also love to hear anyone's recommendations on private health insurance companies in Mallorca or Spain generally, who offer a good English-speaking service and range of cover.
I will be registering for residency and setting up as autonomo, but have been advised to get extra, private cover, for some of the services not covered by the Spanish national health service....

Can anyone please advise PatsyS and the rest of us seekers?