Palmera

I wonder if anyone knows the answer to this. 2 people i know are having trouble with the healthcare for their little ones.

One has private health insurance for her and her husband, but because their child was born here in Spain, she was under the impression that she was entitled to free healthcare until the child is 18. she has a green medical card for her. However, the local centro de salud says she has been taken off the system now as the mother and father arent registered there. Is this right? They say there is no entitlement unless either the mother or father is entitled, too.

the other one is separated and lives on her own with 2 children. Her children have also been taken off the computer at their local helath centre also, along with herself, as her husband has left her and is no longer paying into the system. She doesnt pay into the system, doesnt claim anything, and only has the money her parents and ex-husband sends her each month, to live on. She doesnt work, having the 2 little ones at home. Should the children still be entitled to the healthcare? should she?

any info for them would be appreciated.

Thanks.

cricketman

Yes the children are entitled to free healthcare. All children born in Spain are, in fact even if they were not born in Spain they still will be.

They need to ask for the form for the Ley de Menores which they will need to fill in and prove that they are not working, it's meant to guarentee poor immigrant children to healthcare, which effectively they are . I helped out a couple who lost their job to get their baby signed up - and they got free healthcare straight away, check ups, jabs etc

As for the adults, if they can prove they are "sin recursos" they will get free healthcare. If not, they will have to pay.

snikpoh

... I've been trying to get this form and do this for a LONG time now. I've tried the health centre and the SS office - they all say that we are not eligible and have to pay. We don't work and have little (investment) income.

JLFS

I really dont know the answer to this, I have hears so many conflicting things about health care issues by aquaintances, and friends of friends,

Each has the own tale to tell, and in most cases I dont know them well enough to ask more questions, that maybe would have been SOME use to posters in similar circumstance.

My wife knows about a British woman, she spoke to her briefly while we were in a bar, she was a friend of a friend,she had a little boy born in Spain, and she had found a job in a shop, she was working quite a few hours but had a silly contract of perhaps 8 hours a week.

She was thrilled because up until then nobody in the family had medical cover, not from the SS or private. She said the the birth was covered, by being resident, and the medical care for mother and baby for a certain period.

It could have been six months after the birth, but then it would be taken away.

She told her and me, but I was only half listening, because to be honest I was not eneamoured to anyone who would have a child and be exposed to such risk....

She then told my OH, that they had applied to get free SS, through the sin recoursos, they could not get is, as when applying they were asked who long had they been there and how did they live. The lived in his/her mothers apartment, and their small income came from rebnting out their UK house.

They were told to go private or go home. The asked about cover only for their son, and were told, he was their responsability.

This shocked me as I thought that ALL children born in Spain were entitled to free cover, apparently not so.

This seems to tie in with what Palmera has said, the parents have to be entitled, for any child to be, even if the child is born in Spain.

cricketman

Yes, as long as the state decide the family can afford to pay for their child, then they will need to.

If they really are "sin recursos" then they will get free care. But the limit may be very low (if I remember I think free care goes to those who have income less than min wage, so 650 euros a month)

Being from Britain, it is easy to forget how important healthcare is. If you have children and they do not have healthcare cover in Spain (and you cannot afford it) then please go back to the UK. Health is the most important thing in life - noone will let you die in Spain if you are ill, but if you dont have cover then you wont be able to get a diagnosis.

JLFS

The limit could be as you say, I have no idea, and although the state has responsibility for the health of the nation to a certain extent, the "primary" responsible are the parents.......plain and simple, we could critisie Spain for leaving folk unprotected, but that is the way it is. Budgeting and asking about internet, when there are much bigger issues to be sorted out, seems very frivolous...

If you have lkeft a country where it is the norm for all to be covered, to go to a country where that is not the case, then getting sorted out or getting back sharpish would be my first priority.

Ususally the ones who qualify for free healthe care due to lack of income, usually come from countries where there is no health care available to them.

So for them even limited care in Spain is a step up, but for British it is a step down.

Sad but true.

JLFS

Well put Cman, my thoughts exactly, K on the way

Palmera

Thanks for the replies (especially to you Cricketman). I will forward this info to both of them.

I see no reason why the first couple cant just add the child to their private policies to be honest, but i do feel for the second lady, as, being left here on her own with 2 children (one only a few months old), she is unable to work, so would have thought she would be able to get healthcare for them all, herself included. Hopfully if she gets the forms stated, it may get her somewhere.

Thanks again.

Mataroni

When your children were born here in Spain you should have got a piece of paper (one of many) from the hospital registring the birth. With this then you can go to the administration office or town hall or both depending on the size of the town where you live. After this and with a photocopy of your ID you need to go to your local healthcare center and they'll register you there. After that you get your card through the post.

I remember having a lot of paperwork to do, but we did it all in one morning. If not why don't you go to your local 'oficina de cuidadana' or town hall and ask there.

Palmera

hi mataroni, i know both of them did this originally as it is something you have to do within just a few weeks of leaving the hospital. they then got sent the green cards for the children...its now thats the problem for them, not the early days.
Thanks for your reply though.

JLFS

So does it only last for a few months or a year?

Palmera

they were aware, from what they were told at the hospitals, that the card would then give the child health cover til they were 16 (or 18 cant remember exactly what they said). but apparently, on putting the cards through the centro de saluds computers, they werent working anymore.