# health insurance



## manuka (May 26, 2014)

Hi we are looking for health insurance which I believe we both have to have for the first year. My husband is and= EU national ( Polish) and I am of pension age and British waiting for my S1.... Any recommendations/info appreciated.


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

manuka said:


> Hi we are looking for health insurance which I believe we both have to have for the first year. My husband is and= EU national ( Polish) and I am of pension age and British waiting for my S1.... Any recommendations/info appreciated.


If you have an S1 you don't need private health insurance. The S1 gives you free access to the Spanish State healthcare system and prescribed medicines will be heavily subsidised or possibly free in some regions (depending upon income). I don't know how this applies to your husband. Many people (including myself) with an S1 still take out private health insurance because it gives you fast access to doctors and medical specialists (many of them English-speaking) and more comfortable surroundings if you are admitted to hospital. I have been with Salus for many years and would recommend them: Seguros de salud.


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## manuka (May 26, 2014)

Thank you  I guess the first year private insurance is advised


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

manuka said:


> Thank you  I guess the first year private insurance is advised


Some kind of health cover acceptable to the govt. is required. An S1 is accepted. 

Your husband can also be covered by an S1 as your spouse. You need to ask the DWP for one for him.


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

manuka said:


> Thank you  I guess the first year private insurance is advised


One thing to bear in mind with private health insurance: most companies have a list of health conditions that are not covered during the first six months. Also, pre-existing health problems have to be declared and will be excluded from the policy. If you have an S1 everything, including pre-existing conditions, will be covered by the State system. The Spanish health service is very good but unless you speak fairly good Spanish you will need to take an interpreter with you to appointments.


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## RKaji (Aug 4, 2021)

Hello. A lot depends on your medical needs because, even considering your age, you can be both healthy and feel great and have a lot of illnesses requiring special medical care.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

RKaji said:


> Hello. A lot depends on your medical needs because, even considering your age, you can be both healthy and feel great and have a lot of illnesses requiring special medical care.


Medical needs are irrelevant here.

In order to secure a visa, or register as an EU resident, everything must be covered by the insurance.


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## timwip (Feb 27, 2017)

Although technically to obtain private insurance you must be a resident, most private insurance companies will sell you insurance without being a resident. As a result, you may want to consider buying a private policy before becoming a resident and accept the 6 months pre-existing conditions exclusion. Then in your home country, continue treatment for six months. After the six months is up, then move to Spain.


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## MataMata (Nov 30, 2008)

Won't work, you have to show a full years paid up insurance so 6 months remaining on a policy won't cut it.

For your plan you'd have to do a whole year and then use a renewal for the visa application.


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## Barriej (Jul 23, 2012)

MataMata said:


> Won't work, you have to show a full years paid up insurance so 6 months remaining on a policy won't cut it.
> 
> For your plan you'd have to do a whole year and then use a renewal for the visa application.


Unless it changed when the NLV etc came in thats not how it worked.
We applied for residence in 2020 with three months left on the policy. Took it out in March 2020 expires Dec 2020.

What you have to show is that the policy is auto renewing (and they check, or did. Because our company was contacted to ensure we had this in place).
Most policies are from Jan to Dec and you pay only for the months left in the year to Dec, with the auto renew active.
The earliest you can take a policy for the next year and have it run for the whole year is in early December (as thats what I have to do to change provider). 
Also the policy has to be in place when you apply for the NLV. 
So if the visa takes three months you wont be covered for the year, add the time to move here and the month to get residency and at least six months will have passed anyway.

Also if someone buys a policy and waits six months or so, once here if they have an illness soon after or try to claim, the policy will in effect not pay out as once you try to claim you will be asked about previous illness's even if covered by the Uk NHS...
Tell them that you were sick and hospitalised in the previous six months while the policy was active and you were in another country and watch what happens......
Or don't tell and watch what happens when they contact the NHS or your UK doctor(which you have to give authority for to actually get the policy in the first place)...

Basically. If you have an existing illness that needs treatment then you can forget getting a policy, unless its got a huge premium. And that means you wont get the NLV.
Healthcare should be the first thing on the list to get, before where you want to live, bank accounts or how much a pint of beer is....


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## timwip (Feb 27, 2017)

MataMata said:


> Won't work, you have to show a full years paid up insurance so 6 months remaining on a policy won't cut it.
> 
> For your plan you'd have to do a whole year and then use a renewal for the visa application.


I had insurance in Spain two years before I moved here due to spending alot of time in Spain. I showed that insurance policy renewal to get my visa and everything worked fine. I then consulted a doctor about my pre-existing condition and they covered it no problem.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Closing this, since all it seems to be doing now is attracting spammers selling completely irrelevant insurance..


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