# Medicine cost



## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Can anyone confirm that if you are a resident non pensioner but have income less than €100k you only pay 50% of prescription medicine costs? Cheers


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Rabbitcat said:


> Can anyone confirm that if you are a resident non pensioner but have income less than €100k you only pay 50% of prescription medicine costs? Cheers


Yes I can confirm that


> Generally if you are working you pay 40% if your annual income is under 18,000€, 50% if your annual income is between 18,000€ & 100,000€ & 60% if your annual income is over 100,000€.


Healthcare in Spain 

Of course that means that for some things you'll pay a euro or even less, but for others much much more.

An inhaler my daughter uses would cost 80€ over the counter. Luckily, because it's a chronic condition I only pay a few euros

That is for people who work though, & their dependents. If you are using the _convenio especial _ you pay the full costs of medicines, just as you would with private healthcare.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Cheers Xabia

According to this in my case-non pensioner, income 18 to 100 I would only pay 50% so am a happy bunny- all be it a happy bunny with severe gout so need my Adenuric/Febuxostat

Co-Payment Prescription Charges In Spain - Sanitas Health Plan Spain


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Rabbitcat said:


> Cheers Xabia
> 
> According to this in my case-non pensioner, income 18 to 100 I would only pay 50% so am a happy bunny- all be it a happy bunny with severe gout so need my Adenuric/Febuxostat
> 
> Co-Payment Prescription Charges In Spain - Sanitas Health Plan Spain


The info on that blog is misleading - the co-pay only applies to prescriptions written by doctors working in the state healthcare system - not to private 'prescriptions'.

If you read further, it says that under their policies you can take extra prescription insurance to recoup 50% of charges. You would initially pay the full cost of medicines & only recoup the 50% if you took the extra insurance.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Yeah but after 1st year I will be joining through Convenio Especial. So it's only first year I would have to sort things myself


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Rabbitcat said:


> Yeah but after 1st year I will be joining through Convenio Especial. So it's only first year I would have to sort things myself


You pay full costs of meds with the conveio especial, too.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

I see

So how does a foreigner ever get to fully join the state system?

Is it only for pensioners?


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Rabbitcat said:


> I see
> 
> So how does a foreigner ever get to fully join the state system?
> 
> Is it only for pensioners?


a) by working with an official contract and paying social security
b) by being registered as self-employed (autonomo) and paying social security
c) by being a pensioner with an S1, or
d) by being the dependant of a pensioner with an S1.

I have a private prescription for my statins which, if I use it, costs €28.50 for 28 days. However, because I am covered by the state healthcare system by virtue of being the dependant of a pensioner, I get a prescription from my medico familiar in the state system for the same medication and pay €2.85 instead.

If you are early retired and not working, then you have the choice of taking out private health insurance and paying 100% of the cost of your medications, taking out more expensive private health insurance such as the Sanitas one you mention and getting reimbursed for 50% of the cost of the medications, or paying into the convenio especial and paying 100% of the cost of the medications. I guess you need to find out what the price of your particular medications is to do the sums as to which would be more cost effective for you. Next time you are over here, take them into a farmacia and ask.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Cheers Lynn

I have an APPALLING memory as I just did a forum search and asked some of these questions before. Am a dimwit

Anyway you have made it clear for me now 

Bottom line I have to pay full price regardless until I am a pensioner. 

That being the case there's no advantage for me joining Conv Esp ( price actually dearer than private) so will just have to source own gout meds until pension age then get through system then

Thanks again to you both


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Rabbitcat said:


> so will just have to source own gout meds until pension age then get through system then


With the caveat - if that avenue is still open to us by then.

You also have to factor in that private health insurance premiums increase each year, whereas to date, the cost of the convenio especial has not increased since it was introduced, although of course it might in the future, who knows? Some years the private health rises are more than others, this year ours has only gone up by €2 per month each, but there was one year when I think it went up by €8 each (and it was nothing to do with claims made).

Also, of course, there are the added complications of taking out private insurance when you have a pre-existing condiition (do you know how they would regard your gout, for example, would they exclude it or just charge a higher premium?). As the conveno especial doesn't exclude any pre-existing conditions, depending on that it might turn out cheaper for you to switch to that after the first year, when you can't get away from the need for private health cover.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

The gout is just treated by medication which neither state nor private supply so it's not an issue-just have to buy tabs myself

From what I can gather they are quite expensive in Spain -around €40 a month for one particular type of tablet alone so I will need to pursue other avenues


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## infomaniac (May 27, 2013)

Hi Rabbitcat, my hubby is in agony at the moment with gout so you have all my sympathies  
Have you tried Diclofenac? The NHS tend not to prescribe it so much now but we bought some over the counter last time we were in Spain and they were cheap as chips.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Infomaniac you are very helpful

What soet of price is it


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

Rabbitcat said:


> The gout is just treated by medication which neither state nor private supply so it's not an issue-just have to buy tabs myself
> 
> From what I can gather they are quite expensive in Spain -around €40 a month for one particular type of tablet alone so I will need to pursue other avenues


You will declare it as a pre-existing condition when you apply for private health insurance though, won't you? It really would be unwise not to do so even if you think you won't need to be treated for it under the policy, because if you make a claim for something else and they discover you haven't declared something when you applied, even if the condition seems unrelated to the claim to you, then they may refuse to pay on the grounds that you had not disclosed something on your application and that could be disastrous.


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## infomaniac (May 27, 2013)

No problem  My hubby reckons it was about 3 euro per box. The box had two strips in but he can't remember how many were on each strip, maybe 12 or 24.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Cheers infomaniac 

Alas it's not suitable - just my luck 

Jus read up on it and it's for the excruciating pain you get when you have a gout attack

I suffer from long term chronic gout( lost my job solely because of it-31 years same job, no days off then wallop!) so my medication ( Febuxostat) must keep my levels correct to stop the onset of attacks


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## infomaniac (May 27, 2013)

Ah that's a shame :-( I hate to teach my granny to suck eggs but did you know cherries are very good for gout?


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

My form of gout is not activated by diet. It's basically in my blood/system

I have a hole about the size of a £2 coin burnt through my right foot where the Uric acid crystals gathered on one occasion . When the attacks kick off I have been close to taking a knife to cut off my leg, foot or hand. It's sheer agony

However this Febuxostat has been a revelation. It has reduced my attacks from 8/10 a month to maybe 2/3. It has also decreased their severity


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## infomaniac (May 27, 2013)

God that sounds horrendous-you poor thing. I have noted the Febuxostat just in case anything like that ever happens to him indoors. The pain must be unbearable. My hubby never normally complains about any sort of pain but at the moment it's got him floored. I hope you manage to get sorted out.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Thanks very much

I will be ok. There's so many people with REAL ailments


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## stevesainty (Jan 7, 2011)

Again, not wishing to teach......

Online site for purchase perhaps?

Uloric EU, Without Prescription, Lowest Price Euro. Europe, Buy Uloric Online From European Pharmacy.

Steve!


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

Cheers Steve but that's near twice the price in Spain


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

Rabbitcat said:


> The gout is just treated by medication which neither state nor private supply so it's not an issue-just have to buy tabs myself
> 
> From what I can gather they are quite expensive in Spain -around €40 a month for one particular type of tablet alone so I will need to pursue other avenues


I was diagnosed with gout about 20 years ago and suffered excruciating pain in all my joints until the doctors discovered the cause. Since then I have been taking one 300mg tablet of Allopurinol every day and the gout has never returned. Allopurinol can be bought over the counter in Spain for about €3 for a month's supply.


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## Rabbitcat (Aug 31, 2014)

I appreciate that Skipper. 

Unfortunately I was on Allopurinol for a year and it didn't work in my case-hence they changed me to the expensive Febuxostat


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