# Healthcare under pension age?



## infomaniac (May 27, 2013)

I would be grateful for some advice on healthcare please?

My husband and I are both on medication and are under pension age. We will not be working in Spain. What is the best and most economical course of action for us? I had understood that we could buy meds over the counter but things seem a tad more complicated than that! 

I also thought that we would just have to fend for ourselves until pension age but I have just read that the rules for medical benefits changed in April 2015 

Any info/ advice would be greatly appreciated.


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## extranjero (Nov 16, 2012)

infomaniac said:


> I would be grateful for some advice on healthcare please?
> 
> My husband and I are both on medication and are under pension age. We will not be working in Spain. What is the best and most economical course of action for us? I had understood that we could buy meds over the counter but things seem a tad more complicated than that!
> 
> ...


You have to have private health insurance for 1 year, then you can pay 60 euros a month each into the convention especial, which is an arrangement whereby you will get healthcare from the Spanish NHS, same as any resident.
You will have to pay a percentage towards your prescriptions.
Some are very cheap, but others very expensive.
When you reach state pension age you can then get free healthcare, though continue to pay towards prescriptions, as all Spaniards do. Whoever receives free healthcare first will also entitle the other spouse to claim free healthcare as a dependent, though when the dependent reaches state pension age he/ she must then apply for free care in their own right, as when the other dies, the remaining spouse could be left without healthcare


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

extranjero said:


> You have to have private health insurance for 1 year, then you can pay 60 euros a month each into the convention especial, which is an arrangement whereby you will get healthcare from the Spanish NHS, same as any resident.
> You will have to pay a percentage towards your prescriptions.
> Some are very cheap, but others very expensive.
> When you reach state pension age you can then get free healthcare, though continue to pay towards prescriptions, as all Spaniards do. Whoever receives free healthcare first will also entitle the other spouse to claim free healthcare as a dependent, though when the dependent reaches state pension age he/ she must then apply for free care in their own right, as when the other dies, the remaining spouse could be left without healthcare


With the _convenio especial_ you pay full costs for medication, there's no discount.


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## Lynn R (Feb 21, 2014)

You mention that both you and your husband are on medication, which means you need to be aware that it will make it more difficult and more expensive for you to get the private health insurance you will need for at least your first year of being resident in Spain, because any pre-existing conditions must be declared when applying for cover, and depending on what those conditions are the insurance company may exclude those conditions, or charge higher premiums, or in the worst case scenario, decline cover altogether.


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## infomaniac (May 27, 2013)

What happens if I can't get private health insurance? Does that mean I wouldn't be able to join the convenio especial?

As long as I have a check up in the UK prior to leaving I should be able to manage my meds/condition myself for a year. :fingerscrossed:

I've read things on other websites and thought we could just go to a doctor (and pay of course) if anything cropped up...I might have known it wouldn't be so simple! 

Thanks a lot


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## Madliz (Feb 4, 2011)

I lost my husband to cancer when he was 53. He woke up one morning with the first symptom, out of the blue. Luckily we had private medical insurance. What might have happened had we not? He was hospitalised over a dozen times and spent a month in an induced coma.

Don't risk no health cover!!!


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

infomaniac said:


> What happens if I can't get private health insurance? Does that mean I wouldn't be able to join the convenio especial?
> 
> As long as I have a check up in the UK prior to leaving I should be able to manage my meds/condition myself for a year. :fingerscrossed:
> 
> ...


Well it's a bit of a catch 22.

You have to have private healthcare in order to register on the foreigners' list - & you have to be registered for 12 months before you can join the _convenio especial_


So although it's possible to pay for appointments at private doctors as you need them, you can't register as resident unless you have healthcare insurance.


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## infomaniac (May 27, 2013)

Thanks a lot ladies. Sorry to hear about your husband Madliz-that must have been horrendous for you.

I'll look into private insurance


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## stevec2x (Mar 24, 2012)

infomaniac said:


> I would be grateful for some advice on healthcare please?
> 
> My husband and I are both on medication and are under pension age. We will not be working in Spain. What is the best and most economical course of action for us? I had understood that we could buy meds over the counter but things seem a tad more complicated than that!
> 
> ...


Hi

If your health problems allow you to claim certain UK benefits, then that fact alone would give you free access to the Spanish health system, and 10% prescription charges.

Not a lot of people know that!

Steve


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## infomaniac (May 27, 2013)

Unfortunately/fortunately, whichever way you look at it, I am not on benefits! I hope this doesn't put a spanner in the works for us :-(


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## mollymonster (May 26, 2010)

extranjero said:


> You have to have private health insurance for 1 year, then you can pay 60 euros a month each into the convention especial, which is an arrangement whereby you will get healthcare from the Spanish NHS, same as any resident.
> You will have to pay a percentage towards your prescriptions.
> Some are very cheap, but others very expensive.
> When you reach state pension age you can then get free healthcare, though continue to pay towards prescriptions, as all Spaniards do. Whoever receives free healthcare first will also entitle the other spouse to claim free healthcare as a dependent, though when the dependent reaches state pension age he/ she must then apply for free care in their own right, as when the other dies, the remaining spouse could be left without healthcare


Hi do these rules still apply.. as realise it's an old thread??? When you say " entitles the others 'spouse' to claim free healthcare as a dependent " do they class co-habiting couples?? Or do you have to be married?? Really annoys me that we've been together for 30 yrs and when it comes to any tax or income related matters were we have to pay out, we are classed as a couple but when it comes to anything that might be beneficial to us we are classed as single!! Quick rant there .. sorry haha


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

mollymonster said:


> Hi do these rules still apply.. as realise it's an old thread??? When you say " entitles the others 'spouse' to claim free healthcare as a dependent " do they class co-habiting couples?? Or do you have to be married?? Really annoys me that we've been together for 30 yrs and when it comes to any tax or income related matters were we have to pay out, we are classed as a couple but when it comes to anything that might be beneficial to us we are classed as single!! Quick rant there .. sorry haha


It partly depends on whether or not the DWP will issue the S1 to you as a dependent - & then if Spain will accept you as such.

And then it depends if Spain will accept you as a couple.

Generally, for Spain to accept you as a couple from abroad, they insist on an apostilled marriage cert. Nothing else will do.

We have 'pareja de hecho', which is a legal recognition of a couple. But in order to register as such, most areas (& it isn't even possible in some areas) insist that you prove that you've been living together as a couple IN SPAIN for two years before regsitration.

The bit at the end of the post you quoted


> ............... when the dependent reaches state pension age he/ she must then apply for free care in their own right, as when the other dies, the remaining spouse could be left without healthcare


 also still applies.


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## Roy C (Sep 29, 2012)

Infomaniac, did you manage to get the healthcare sorted?


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