purpleflower

Now that we have to get health insurance cover before applying for residency, does anyone have any suggestions of the best company to get private cover from, my husband is American and has a couple of pre existing conditions so I know that complicates matters, any help would be appreciated please

Blod

We are heading out to Spain 21st May, as we are early retires we do not qualify for free health cover until Feb 2013 when OH reaches state pensionable age. This week we enquired with Saga re health cover. The service operator gave us a list of what we were not covered for, (which was quite extensive) and quoted £500. OH was quite pleased with that until he said "is that per annum" only to be told "no that is per Month a yearly policy will cost you £5000" needless to say we didn't take it. OH spent the day muttering, shaking his head and laughing to himself.

We will be checking with the local health authorities as while staying at Majal Camping resort earlier this year, representatives from Elche hospital gave a presentation and qoute €100 per person per month, that's more like it.....

Lynn R

The company I am with, Prevision Medica, covers only Malaga and Cordoba provinces within Andalucia (although I am covered for travel to anywhere else in Spain provided I notify them in advance, and to a limited extent for travel abroad also) so would not be suitable for your needs, but for cost comparison purposes we are currently paying 102€ per month for the two of us (aged 62 and 55) although we did not have any pre-existing conditions when we took the policy out 3 years ago.

You can get online quotes from insurance companies, Sanitas and Adeslas are two you could try.

purpleflower

Thankyou Blod and Lynne

mikelincs

Would an S1 form from the DWP not cover you for up to two years, by which time you would be pensioners and could get another form stating this to replace that S1 and therefore get free cover

lynnxa

she'll only be able to get one of those if she has been in the UK & paying NI...........and I suspect from previous posts that she hasn't...

purpleflower

I think mike may be talking about Blod and her husband, I have been out of England since Feb 8th this year, not sure how long you can be out of the country before you stop being eligible for healthcare there, I am 48 and my partner is 45, he has a pension because he retired early due to having a visual impairment, he is American though so would still need to get private health care

lynnxa

oh yeah............. he even quoted him



must be the first swim of the year gone to my head!!

yes, you do lose rights to healthcare when you leave the UK - but if you were paying NI up til the time you left, you might still qualify for the S1 - you haven't been gone for long - it might just be worth contacting the DWP & asking

people go on longer holidays than the amount of time that has passed since you left..........

purpleflower

Thankyou lynne, will look into that

Blod

from what I've read you have to be of state retirement age to qualify under form S1. We both took early retirement five years ago. OH does not reach retirement age until Feb 13. So we currently fall into the black hole that we haven't paid NI contributions for the past 5yrs.

We do have EHIC card and were told by a local to "wing" it until Feb 13. However I'm superstitious, if we have cover we'll be fine, if we don't have cover all hell will probably break loose!!! We would prefer to stay within the law so intend to find cover for the next nine months.

Many thanks Lynne for the info, we will look into those.

this site may be of some help to you purpleflower,

http://ukinspain.fco.gov.uk/en/help-...althcare/e121/

lynnxa

no, you don't have to be of pensionable age to use the S1, unless that has changed in the past few weeks, unless, as you say, you haven't been paying NI - if you have enough contributions you can use it


I'm glad you're not planning to 'wing it' - they are really tightening up on the 'illegal' use of the EHIC - & rightly so

Lynn R

I think you are sensible not to "wing it". Even when you have taken a policy out there are still qualifying periods before the insurance company will pay for various forms of treatment (except for emergencies and GP visits) - the periods vary according to the type of treatment. After we took ours out, my OH developed a problem with his shoulder which was very painful and restricted the movement in his arm quite badly. The doctor prescribed physiotherapy and we were 6 weeks' short of the deadline for coverage under our policy, so ended up paying out 250€ for 10 physiotherapy sessions - just our luck! It did sort the problem out immediately though, and there is nothing worse than being in constant pain.

Jenny22

I had no choice but to "wing it" a couple of years ago. We had taken out private health insurance but it was of the "pay first claim later" type.
So when I was in a car crash which smashed my hip, we could not afford to pay up front for the operation to put me right as it would have cost several thousand euros, and the ER surgeons told us that I certainly could not travel back to the UK as I needed urgent treatment. The receptionist in the ER department, having been notified of our insurance problems and the urgency of the case, asked my husband for my EHIC and they were happy to use it.
I also received free follow up care with the EHIC at the local clinic and hospital outpatients as they said I could not fly for 12 weeks so it was still considered emergency coverage.
I know the hospital admin department put in a claim to the UK which was successful as we received notification from Newcastle and from the hospital some weeks later.
However, this was a pretty extreme case I would think and I don't know whether all that would still apply after the recent changes.

Blod

To be honest I'm still confused by it all. I found this on the NHS Website for those moving to EEA country:

"The NHS is a residence-based healthcare system. Therefore, once you have moved permanently away from the UK you are no longer entitled to medical treatment under normal NHS rules.
You must notify your former GP so that you and your family can be removed from the NHS register.
You will also no longer be entitled to use your UK-issued European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) to access healthcare abroad."

Web site British Embassy Madrid:
If you get a UK State Pension or Long Term Incapacity Benefit and you decide to move to Spain permanently, ask for your S1 (previously E121) from the International Pension Centre (IPC) in Newcastle.

Once registered with the Spanish authorities, the S1 gives you and your dependants the same medical cover in Spain as a Spanish national under the Spanish state-run health scheme. This cover may not be the same as you received on the NHS in the UK so you may have to pay for some treatments or services. Remember that:

treatment given privately and repatriation costs to the UK are not covered. Think about whether you want to take out private health insurance.
some social services may not be available. "

I think our best option is to apply for the S1 and take out private cover, therefore covering all areas until OH reaches 65.

thanks everyone for your comments,

lynnxa

what's confusing?

the EHIC is for emergency holiday treatment - so if you live in Spain you shouldn't use it here

if you live in Spain you are no longer resident in the UK, so you can't get healthcare there


for sure apply for an S1 - if you qualify then you will get full access to Spanish healthcare on the same basis as a Spanish citizen - for the time you are covered you won't need private healthcare at all - if it runs out before you get your UK state pension then you'll need private cover