welshtart

Hello All.... I have been lurking on this website for probably over ten years, my father used to live in Spain before he passed at Xmas last year and bought a property in 1984 for £16K, those were the days eh?..... anyway I digress.
My question is to do with my ongoing treatment for psoriasis, I am on biologic drugs which are very expensive and of course free on the NHS, I realise I would need to purchase private healthcare insurance when we finally make the move in a few years but I wondered if anyone else on here that lives in Spain has an ongoing treatment plan that involved huge cost to the NHS and how they dealt with getting health insurance to cover it in Spain, I have a look around but of course it is a minefield.... Any suggestions... thanks all.

missile

I found private health care to be prohibitively expensive.

Lynn R

Most private health insurance policies don't cover the cost of medications at all, so I think what you are looking for will be very difficult to find. I think there are a few which reimburse policyholders up to 50% of the cost, but of course they have to pay in the first place then claim it back. Even the Convenio Especial, which is the system by which you can `pay into the public health system (but only after being legally resident in Spain for at least one year), and which covers pre-existing conditions, does not cover the cost of any medications.

el collado kid

When i had private medical insurance,I could not get a policy to cover my pre existing condition or cost of medicines.And when i became ill and the treatment touched my pre existing condition the insurance would not pay.I am now on spanish health care which treat every thing and i have to pay 10% of medicine coast.By the way the health care in spain is first class.

welshtart

Thanks El Collado, you are always so helpful !.... Im not planning on retiring to the sun for a few years yet so wont be able to make the end of 2020 so I think Ill have to look at my options on how to deal with this, the condition is so bad that the sun wont cure it and Im on my third set of biologics now to suppress it so its an expensive drug to administer, and funded by the local authority. Surely there must be someone else in Spain with Psoriasis that can advise, Ill keep watching this link. Thanks All

Barriej

We have recently taken out private health care with Aegon and its quite specific as to medicines etc. You will only get them if part of the hospital stay. Otherwise you will have to pay for them.
I don't think any company gives coverage for existing conditions. Although Sanitas said they would but the premiums went from €80 a month to nearly €300 but they still said we would have to pay for medicines.

My wife has Asthma and high blood pressure as well as a skin condition. The inhalers are available over the counter cheaper than prescription costs here in the uk. The blood pressure pills, i think cost about €30 for a months supply and her cream came to €10 for a 1 kilo pot. She pays for the NHS card to reduce the cost.

welshtart

Thanks BarrieJ, very helpful, I'm also diabetic (falling to bits), so got the cost of those tablets to think of!..... I wish I could just use a cream but its way past that stage, having done the cream, light therapy, tablets and now third type of injection medication!.... Ill keep reading. Thanks Denise

NABman

DKV accepted my pre-existing BP and Cholesterol condition, excluded my wife's back problem. We had to take the elite level to get residency. I pay about Euro 23/month for my meds and collectively 2400 pa.

Be careful, we are Euro 500 down for a broken wrist accident. Apparently we should have phoned DKV to find out where to go for treatment despite being on the verge of passing out with pain and now we understand the excellent treatment from the state healthcare system is reimbursable.

The question (hypothetical) is if one of us conked out on the street and was unconscious how could a phone call be made. No answer from DKV!

welshtart

Thanks for your answer, Im hoping there is a miracle drug which I can take as a tablet by the time I get there, there are a few years yet and lots to think about. Thank you for taking the time to reply though, hope your wrist gets better soon I have broken many bones over the years and I know how painful it is, the last time I broke my arm and was lying in the middle of a very busy road waiting for an ambulance to turn up as they couldnt pick me up (never mind make a phone call)

Notdunroamin

It's a standard clause in most insurance policies, not only health, that authorisation must be obtained before engaging with facilities or resources required to deal with whatever has happened.

First responses to real and life threatening emergencies should of course be covered without question but whilst not making light of it, and as painful as a broken wrist might be, it does not necessarily constitute a medical emergency nor demand treatment so urgent and rapid that a few moments to contact an insurer for instructions on how to properly proceed cannot be found.

Reading and understanding a policy when it's first taken out is a good way of avoiding misunderstandings!

Of course in the heat of the moment it's perfectly understandable that panic can take over leading to the instant summoning of the help deemed appropriate with T&C's of a contract cast aside to be worried about later.

NABman

Very true Notdunroamin, except I spoke to a DKV rep on the ambulatorio Doctors phone who advised they would send an ambulance. This is FOC with the elite policy coverage, they then phoned back and said it was cancelled and local treatment to be provided and then head to Velez hospital in our car. This follows on from the exceptionally poor communication, despite mailing in Spanish and English during the lockdown for authorisation on another medical matter.

Now we better know the system we are prepared but at the end of the year DKV will not be receiving any more of our money.