tebo53

Hi All, Been searching for info on prescription charges. I've seen the lists for pensioners etc. but I will be an early retiree living off saving with no actual income. I will be eligible for the S1 for healthcare for the 2 years up to my retirement age, so my wife will be covered too. Cant seem to understand the %age I might pay?
My wife claims long term DLA, What %age might she have to pay?
Don't get me wrong, I don't mind paying what is expected but I am trying to organise my finances before I make the move.
Thanks very much
Steve

Lynn R

As an early retiree myself, I have to pay 100% of the cost of any medication I am prescribed. Sorry I am not sure what the position of someone in receipt of long term DLA would be.

snikpoh

I don't see that this is appropriate to the OP - they are on the S1 for the first 18 months(ish) so surely they won't be paying 100%?

Lynn R

Being on the SI doesn't necessarily affect how much you have to pay for prescriptions - as someone who will not have been making Spanish tax returns as they will be new arrivals, there will be no income details to be linked to their tarjeta sanitaria and therefore, if not a pensioner, they would have to pay 100% - I think! I'll be glad to be corrected if I'm wrong.

Rosemary

When we first moved over here we were on the SI form we were in receipt of green prescriptions which meant that we paid something like 50% of the cost but I am not absolutely sure. Once I became a pensioner and my husband became my dependant we received red prescriptions and had everything free until they introduced the new charges.

Rosemary

EsuriJohn

We are S1 retirees but for the first time today received a prescription from our doctor. At the chemist the cost was 20c I now understand the system. As a pensioner the prescription cost are limited to €8 per months so that's lots of 20c. For non pensioners the cost is limited to €20 (I seem to remember) but how you stand as a S1 holder I am not sure since I suppose UK DWP will pay £4,200 pa for each S1 regardless of age.

Fred James

You pay 10% on every prescription. It isn't limited to €8 as such but you can reclaim any excess through the tax system.

The amount that the DWP pay that you quoted is incorrect - the current figure is £3289/pa.

EsuriJohn

Thanks for correcting the S1 capitation Fred thought it had been increased. How would we reclaim the excess if we are below the tax threshold when we submit our tax return?

Fred James

I don't think the Junta de Andalucia have come up with a plan yet. I did read that Valencia had put a process in place but I don't know the details.

Domino

once you eventually get your medical card you start to see the advantages of the Spanish system where you enter a paper-free world.

you see your GP, he uses your card to put the prescriptions on the system, for single issue or multiple issues.
you go to the farmacia and they use your card to call up your prescriptions and dispense the single issue or the issue for that month.

yes it can be a pain and a shock to make a payment, but then this isn't the UK and 10% for most people isnt much unless they are very expensive drugs.

As we are considering moving from Granada to somewhere else in Andalucia the Andalucia card can be used anywhere in the region without having to re-register.

EsuriJohn

It's not the same everywhere, here in Ayamonte you take your card along to the surgery and admin put that in their machine which pulls up your on-line appointment and sends your details upstairs to the Doctor. When you appointment time comes and you go in to see the doc she takes your card puts it in her machine types in your prescription and it prints out an A4 sheet. This is what you walk round to the pharmacy to collect your drugs.

It may be that this is an interim position until they get full electronic in place.

tebo53

Hi All,
Thanks for all your replies. I didn't seem to get to any definite answers to my query but its a minefield of a subject it seems.
Regards Steve

Pocaloca

Well, it does depend to some extent which Spanish region you are in, as health policy is set regionally. But as I understand it you will have to pay 100% of prescription costs until you are in receipt of a UK state pension.

That said, most of the drugs prescribed in Spain are very cheap because they are generic (i.e. their patent has run out), so something like statins will only cost a couple of euros a month.

You could do a bit of googling to see if the drugs you/your wife needs are available as generics? Just search for the actual medical name, rather than the brand name.

Domino

not quite right, you can get an S1, without having become a pensioner, for a period of up to 2.5yrs IIRC, under certain circumstances
all you have to do is get that S1 into your local INSS office and get it accepted, they will write to you recording its existance and you will have access to the Spanish system.

That is how I was covered in my first year here, prior to retirement.

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthc...ingabroad.aspx
and click on the dropdown Healthcare provided before your state pension is payable

yesterday the 3 drugs I have for hypertension cost me €3.85, OK not free as in the UK but the walk uphill to the farmacia was free and did me good (I hope)

hth

Lynn R

Yes, Domino, the S1 entitles you to treatment under the Spanish state system - but your prescription charges are what they are because you are a UK pensioner. People who are not, and who cannot prove by way of having made Spanish tax returns that their income is less than 100,000€ per annum (which someone newly arrived in Spain could not because they can't make a tax return until it becomes due) then you have to pay 100% of the prescription charge. The period you spent here before you became a pensioner was before the new prescription charges were introduced last year, don't forget.