NHS medical cover for expats
Aug 24th 2016, 10:55 am
#16
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 487
Re: NHS medical cover for expats
"Yes, currently it is around €3500 per person".
According to the Department of Health on the 22nd of April it is €2,966.88 per person. The difficulty is of course if you need pre ops, consultations and then post op treatments - surely that means you have to live in the UK for some time or go back and forth?
According to the Department of Health on the 22nd of April it is €2,966.88 per person. The difficulty is of course if you need pre ops, consultations and then post op treatments - surely that means you have to live in the UK for some time or go back and forth?
Aug 24th 2016, 11:15 am
#17
Joined: Jun 2006
Location: Granada Costa
Posts: 10,898
Re: NHS medical cover for expats
I don't know where you got your information from, but this is the reply I got from the DoH in April last year.
Thank you for your email about healthcare in Spain . I have been asked to reply.
The UK pays Spain a lump sum of £274.11 per state pensioner, per month, regardless of the level of healthcare accessed by that person.
Yours sincerely,
Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries
Department of Health
At todays exchange rate that is €3850 per year.
Thank you for your email about healthcare in Spain . I have been asked to reply.
The UK pays Spain a lump sum of £274.11 per state pensioner, per month, regardless of the level of healthcare accessed by that person.
Yours sincerely,
Ministerial Correspondence and Public Enquiries
Department of Health
At todays exchange rate that is €3850 per year.
Aug 24th 2016, 2:20 pm
#18
Forum Regular
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 170
Re: NHS medical cover for expats
This is almost the same as those cases where the NHS send willing patients to an EU country for treatment in cases where their local health authority either have no scope or a vacancy for surgery in order to meet league table/waiting times.
Aug 24th 2016, 3:53 pm
#19
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Joined: Feb 2007
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Re: NHS medical cover for expats
I spoke to a lady at the overseas healthcare in Newcastle a couple of months ago, she told me that If I want an operation I can choose if I want to have it in Spain or the UK , this rule came into force in April, she said all you needed to do was to contact a hospital of your choice and request that you have your operation there , apparently you ask to speak to somebody that deals with overseas patients. I repeated it back to her to make sure Id heard her correctly and she confirmed that is correct..Also interestingly she said I could go to any doctor in the UK but to make sure I didn't give a relatives UK address as my own and to use my Spanish address, she said that if I give a UK address it will flag up that I am back in the UK and my Spanish healthcare could be cancelled.. I am a pensioner who receives healthcare with the S1 form.
Aug 24th 2016, 8:57 pm
#20
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2012
Posts: 144
Re: NHS medical cover for expats
I take it the early retirees still get nothing back and have to pay for medical care through med ins in Spain and when visiting the UK?
Aug 25th 2016, 1:28 pm
#22
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Joined: Aug 2009
Location: now just seville ( province)
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Re: NHS medical cover for expats
I spoke to a lady at the overseas healthcare in Newcastle a couple of months ago, she told me that If I want an operation I can choose if I want to have it in Spain or the UK , this rule came into force in April, she said all you needed to do was to contact a hospital of your choice and request that you have your operation there , apparently you ask to speak to somebody that deals with overseas patients. I repeated it back to her to make sure Id heard her correctly and she confirmed that is correct..Also interestingly she said I could go to any doctor in the UK but to make sure I didn't give a relatives UK address as my own and to use my Spanish address, she said that if I give a UK address it will flag up that I am back in the UK and my Spanish healthcare could be cancelled.. I am a pensioner who receives healthcare with the S1 form.
We should instead quote our Spanish address and use our EHIC card.
We have also been told to apply for a new EHIC card (as Spanish residents) as the one issued for UK residents is not valid and we may be charged retrospectively for any treatment if we need to use it anywhere in Europe.
Pete
Aug 25th 2016, 6:53 pm
#23
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 487
Re: NHS medical cover for expats
It sounds like left hands and right hands - I hope that doesn't mean they are paying twice? This is the reply I received:
Dear Mr Adams Thank you for your email. The UK pays the Spanish Government an annual total of €2,966.88 for every registered state pensioner in Spain, who holds an S1 form. It also pays Spain for every treatment given via the European Health Insurance Card. If you need any further information please don't hesitate to get back in touch. Kind regards Martyn DWP/DH Compliance Team
Dear Mr Adams Thank you for your email. The UK pays the Spanish Government an annual total of €2,966.88 for every registered state pensioner in Spain, who holds an S1 form. It also pays Spain for every treatment given via the European Health Insurance Card. If you need any further information please don't hesitate to get back in touch. Kind regards Martyn DWP/DH Compliance Team
Aug 25th 2016, 9:22 pm
#24
Joined: Jun 2006
Location: Granada Costa
Posts: 10,898
Re: NHS medical cover for expats
Well, there you go. I think they call it joined up government! Clearly the left hand doesn't even know there is a right hand!
Maybe your guy thinks there are only 10 weeks in a year, just because he gets 8 weeks holiday.
Maybe your guy thinks there are only 10 weeks in a year, just because he gets 8 weeks holiday.
Aug 26th 2016, 5:10 am
#25
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2012
Location: bute
Posts: 9,740
Re: NHS medical cover for expats
So which figure is right ? the four figure sums are surely way too high. Let me go and ask the Minister. He MUST know !
Aug 26th 2016, 6:25 am
#26
Joined: Jun 2006
Location: Granada Costa
Posts: 10,898
Re: NHS medical cover for expats
i understand that the figure is calculated for each country individually. It is the per capita cost of health care in that country, which is basically the entire healthcare budget divided by the number of people receiving it. That is a pretty big number!
Last edited by Fred James; Aug 26th 2016 at 6:31 am.
Aug 26th 2016, 4:02 pm
#27
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Joined: Jan 2016
Posts: 2,320
Re: NHS medical cover for expats
I was told the same thing. If at any time we wish to access the health care in the uk we should NOT give a uk address as this would automatically wipe us from the Spanish system and we will need to start all over again with the S1 form.
We should instead quote our Spanish address and use our EHIC card.
We have also been told to apply for a new EHIC card (as Spanish residents) as the one issued for UK residents is not valid and we may be charged retrospectively for any treatment if we need to use it anywhere in Europe.
Pete
We should instead quote our Spanish address and use our EHIC card.
We have also been told to apply for a new EHIC card (as Spanish residents) as the one issued for UK residents is not valid and we may be charged retrospectively for any treatment if we need to use it anywhere in Europe.
Pete
Aug 26th 2016, 4:14 pm
#28
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Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 990
Re: NHS medical cover for expats
If you are a UK pensioner in Spain registered with the local social security obviously a UK EHIC card is not valid and you should apply for a Spanish one through the Spanish social security. With Spanish EHIC in hand you then have access to the UK health system when you visit.
The EHIC issued in UK for use in European countries except UK is the one you can't use as a resident of Spain
If you are working in Spain you do go to the ss office in Spain
If you are an early retiree, not working, then you can't get one.
Aug 26th 2016, 8:48 pm
#29
Joined: Jun 2006
Location: Granada Costa
Posts: 10,898
Re: NHS medical cover for expats
Correct. A UK card issued to a UK pensioner in Spain is valid in the UK.
The card is coded in such a way that it will be recognised as valid in the UK, even though "normal" UK issued cards would not.
The card is coded in such a way that it will be recognised as valid in the UK, even though "normal" UK issued cards would not.
Aug 28th 2016, 3:25 am
#30
Forum Regular
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 196
Re: NHS medical cover for expats
My friend has just obtained residency and is now trying to arrange her SIP card.she was informed she needed her S1 form but it was kept by the police when she got residency. She has phoned DWP to request another and they have refused because she was told each time a form is sent out it costs £6,000.this was 2 days ago.
