Prescription costs in Spain now changed
Jul 5th 2012, 11:03 am
#91
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Re: Prescription costs in Spain now changed
Does it not really all come down to + & - for different Countries you research and make a decision to either live there or stay where you are. Of course things change especially in these uncertain times both in the UK and Spain but that's life. In some areas you win and some you loose.
As we have had working age posters on here who actually claim that they are not paying into the system or private and that their plan for healt care is "crossing fingers". Of course they are more than fools.
I think the cost of treatments should be aimed at making the burdenfor workers easier, and dont forget there are some cronic conditions which will be a "working life" long expense to the locals.
Jul 5th 2012, 11:08 am
#92
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Re: Prescription costs in Spain now changed
Yes, not all drugs cost about 5€
Some years ago I took a Brit pensioner to urgencias. I took him back home and went to the farmacía. He had a prescription for 3 items, when I was asked for 87€ I thought they had made a mistake. I told them he was a pensioner but apparently that is the system. He then had to go see his GP to get the same prescription, return to the farmacía and get a refund
A neighbour paid 50€ every month for drugs after having a brain hemorrhage
Always the same on here, extreme examples 3€ for drugs, 4€ for a meal, 20€ IBI...yadda yadda.
Some years ago I took a Brit pensioner to urgencias. I took him back home and went to the farmacía. He had a prescription for 3 items, when I was asked for 87€ I thought they had made a mistake. I told them he was a pensioner but apparently that is the system. He then had to go see his GP to get the same prescription, return to the farmacía and get a refund A neighbour paid 50€ every month for drugs after having a brain hemorrhageAlways the same on here, extreme examples 3€ for drugs, 4€ for a meal, 20€ IBI...yadda yadda.
taking out the extremes as you say, thhe Spanish system is harsher across the board, and even the usual "UK is a rip off" posters can see that, wether they would admit it is another matter.
Jul 5th 2012, 11:10 am
#93
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Re: Prescription costs in Spain now changed
Well that is the option for expats, but I was giving the info from a working Spanish persons angle, which as there are far more working Spanish than Brit expats in Spain, I think that the costs are relevant to the tread.
As we have had working age posters on here who actually claim that they are not paying into the system or private and that their plan for healt care is "crossing fingers". Of course they are more than fools.
I think the cost of treatments should be aimed at making the burdenfor workers easier, and dont forget there are some cronic conditions which will be a "working life" long expense to the locals.
As we have had working age posters on here who actually claim that they are not paying into the system or private and that their plan for healt care is "crossing fingers". Of course they are more than fools.
I think the cost of treatments should be aimed at making the burdenfor workers easier, and dont forget there are some cronic conditions which will be a "working life" long expense to the locals.
Jul 5th 2012, 11:15 am
#94
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Posts: 5,008
Re: Prescription costs in Spain now changed
JLFS I am putting the point from expat/foreign homeowner point if view. It is of course totally different from a Spanish Citizens point of view. Also of course it does not help if expats abuse a system taking things for nothing that they should not have, i.e. abusing the health system if tey should have private health care.
Jul 5th 2012, 11:30 am
#95
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Posts: 6,400
Re: Prescription costs in Spain now changed
Yes, not all drugs cost about 5€ Some years ago I took a Brit pensioner to urgencias. I took him back home and went to the farmacía. He had a prescription for 3 items, when I was asked for 87€ I thought they had made a mistake. I told them he was a pensioner but apparently that is the system. He then had to go see his GP to get the same prescription, return to the farmacía and get a refund A neighbour paid 50€ every month for drugs after having a brain hemorrhage
Always the same on here, extreme examples 3€ for drugs, 4€ for a meal, 20€ IBI...yadda yadda.
Some years ago I took a Brit pensioner to urgencias. I took him back home and went to the farmacía. He had a prescription for 3 items, when I was asked for 87€ I thought they had made a mistake. I told them he was a pensioner but apparently that is the system. He then had to go see his GP to get the same prescription, return to the farmacía and get a refund A neighbour paid 50€ every month for drugs after having a brain hemorrhageAlways the same on here, extreme examples 3€ for drugs, 4€ for a meal, 20€ IBI...yadda yadda.
Jul 5th 2012, 11:36 am
#96
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Location: Velez-Malaga
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Re: Prescription costs in Spain now changed
Yes, and as usual the question was about costs in Spain rising, but it wasn't long before it got around to everything was still cheaper than UK. I don't see many posts informing us, like our good friends have, of the thousands they have had to spend on private medical insurance since they have been there, of the thousands they have spent having their son's teeth sorted out. "Selective amnesia" pills must be cheap in Spain as well. I'll leave them to talk amongst themselves.
Jul 5th 2012, 11:39 am
#97
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Re: Prescription costs in Spain now changed
I seem to remember a post on here of someone who's S1 had ran out being advised that if they didn't say anything they would still get treated? From memory that person decided not to do that and had taken out Health Insurance. I stand corrected if wrong.
Jul 5th 2012, 11:43 am
#98
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Re: Prescription costs in Spain now changed
I don't object to paying for private medical insurance until I become a pensioner, as I've never paid into the Spanish social security system. I actually think THAT is better than the UK system as well, where anyone resident in the country is entitled to full NHS cover from day one regardless of whether they have paid anything towards it.
Jul 5th 2012, 11:43 am
#99
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Re: Prescription costs in Spain now changed
I knew someone who sold his business for 4 million. Moved to Marbella and took out medical insurance. He developed a heart condition and had to pay a lot of money for drugs which were not fully covered by the insurance. So, he used to fly back to the UK and his Doctor gave him 3 or 6 months supply (can't remember which). Of course, he was a real UK knocker
Jul 5th 2012, 1:20 pm
#100
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Re: Prescription costs in Spain now changed
Jul 5th 2012, 1:42 pm
#101
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Re: Prescription costs in Spain now changed
You know the "free" NHS care and "free" prescriptions Agoreira keeps going on about? Well, I've just been filing away some paperwork (you know, bills and those nice pension statements they keep sending me telling me how much money I'm going to have in 3 years and 11 months - not that I'm counting
).
I still have some payslips from my last few months of employment in the UK, coming up to six years ago now. I was surprised to see that I was then paying, out of my own salary not counting the OH's contributions, MORE THAN TWICE AS MUCH per month in NI contributions as we now pay for private health insurance contributions for the two of us in Spain. And that wasn't my highest earnings period. I already had more than enough years in to qualify for a full State Pension by then, so I wasn't accruing any more benefit there. Why, I could have been paying for everybody in Wales to get free prescriptions, when as an English resident I'd still have had to pay for them myself!
No wonder the private health care costs I pay now seem cheap to me in comparison.
).I still have some payslips from my last few months of employment in the UK, coming up to six years ago now. I was surprised to see that I was then paying, out of my own salary not counting the OH's contributions, MORE THAN TWICE AS MUCH per month in NI contributions as we now pay for private health insurance contributions for the two of us in Spain. And that wasn't my highest earnings period. I already had more than enough years in to qualify for a full State Pension by then, so I wasn't accruing any more benefit there. Why, I could have been paying for everybody in Wales to get free prescriptions, when as an English resident I'd still have had to pay for them myself!
No wonder the private health care costs I pay now seem cheap to me in comparison.
Jul 5th 2012, 2:26 pm
#102
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Re: Prescription costs in Spain now changed
If you had not been working in the UK there wouldn't have been anything to pay though. Now you are paying medical and not working.
Jul 5th 2012, 2:44 pm
#104
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Re: Prescription costs in Spain now changed
It was the working and having to pay out such a large chunk in NI (don't get me started on the tax) when one sizeable part of the population didn't contribute because they were on benefits, and another part didn't contribute anything like as much as they should because they aren't on PAYE and their clever tax accountants can reduce their liability to virtually nil, that p***** me off. I couldn't afford to give up work and live in the UK to the same standard that I do here.