# Health Care



## Irishgirl (Sep 26, 2008)

Hey all,
Just wondering if you can give me some advise. I want to get health insurance for me and my husband here in Spain, just wondering what is the best company to go with and how long to you have to be on it before you can claim off it.

I am with BUPA in Ireland and am wondering do they have a sister company here, maybe I can switch it over to here (heres hoping!!)

Any info is welcome, just need to be pointed in the right direction.

Thanks

Ni.
PS. Hasnt it gotten cold!! Winter is here!!


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## Tallulah (Feb 16, 2009)

Irishgirl said:


> Hey all,
> Just wondering if you can give me some advise. I want to get health insurance for me and my husband here in Spain, just wondering what is the best company to go with and how long to you have to be on it before you can claim off it.
> 
> I am with BUPA in Ireland and am wondering do they have a sister company here, maybe I can switch it over to here (heres hoping!!)
> ...


Morning Irishgirl! (an early start for me...):ranger:

Yes, it is getting a lot colder - and the rain! Was watching the news earlier and there's some dreadful accidents happening - the police have been out to 50 incidents in the night in Madrid so far...so much flooding on the roads causing huge problems. (Hope it's OK where you are PW!).:car:

You mentioned Bupa - well, there's Bupa International as a sponsor here on this forum (often appears on the right of the page) so click on there!

I don't know your situation, but I think you mentioned you and your OH were working - if you're contributing to the Spanish system, then you'll be entitled to cover on the Seguridad Social....saying that though, a lot of people (incl. native Spanish) prefer to have private health cover as well.

Time for another coffee and a fresh pair of matchsticks to keep my eyes open!:yawn:

Tally.x


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## Suenneil (Feb 17, 2009)

Morning Irishgirl! 

See that Tally has already given you some info so hope you find what you are looking for. We work and pay into the SS system and are really happy with the care we receive so have never really looked into private health insurance here ...

You are right the weather is on the turn! lol it blew a gale in Estepona last night - torrential rain and high winds! It was actually lovely to be wrapped up warm inside watching the waves crashing on to the beach ..... but Im glad I woke up to blue skies this morning!

Sue x


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## Hombre (Sep 10, 2009)

Suenneil said:


> Morning Irishgirl!
> 
> See that Tally has already given you some info so hope you find what you are looking for. We work and pay into the SS system and are really happy with the care we receive so have never really looked into private health insurance here ...
> 
> ...


Hi Irishgirl,
Tallulah is right , some Spanish do pay into the private systems as well as enjoying the state system. Personally, I have never understood this, unless it stems from the days before Spain developed a state of the art modern state healthcare system. All i can tell you is I personally have first hand experience of the state system and I cannot praise it enough. It literally saved my life. It was everything you would want from modern healthcare...and more. Hope this helps.


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## Xose (Dec 10, 2008)

Irishgirl said:


> Hey all,
> Just wondering if you can give me some advise. I want to get health insurance for me and my husband here in Spain, just wondering what is the best company to go with and how long to you have to be on it before you can claim off it.
> 
> I am with BUPA in Ireland and am wondering do they have a sister company here, maybe I can switch it over to here (heres hoping!!)
> ...



Hi Irishgirl,
As Talli has said and others have commented on, the Spanish Seguridad Social run an excellent health service and we've been very satisfied thus far. However, whilst the service from the health proffesionals is second to none, the service from the admin arm can be a little frustrating at times when dealing with non essential treatment. Basically, most Spaniards who have private medical have it because they can't afford to be messing around waiting for their appointment. They want to see a doctor NOW and if the doctor sends them to a specialist, they want it NOW and not in X months time. Obviously they work, so want to go when they want to go and not when the appointment schedulers say so...etc.
So, if you can take time whenever to go to see a doctor or a specialist, save yourself some money and stay with the SS... they really are good. But if you have the need to see a doctore when you want and the specialist the same, have a look at the offerings from Sanitas, Axa and many others. Winterthur were doing some great deals last year and might still be very competitive. 

As to how long you have to wait to start using them post take out of policy - all of them have certain conditions that you have to wait X months before using (or maternity for example), and won't cover any pre-existing, but general practitioner cover is day one from all that I've seen.

Xose


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## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

Tallulah said:


> Morning Irishgirl! (an early start for me...):ranger:
> 
> Yes, it is getting a lot colder - and the rain! Was watching the news earlier and there's some dreadful accidents happening - the police have been out to 50 incidents in the night in Madrid so far...so much flooding on the roads causing huge problems. (Hope it's OK where you are PW!).:car:


 
:clap2: Good news. :rain:It was raining yesterday!!:rain: 

Just good old rain, :nod: no flooding here.

But now it's sunny again 

More :rain: please!!

Did you go back to bed Tallulah??!!

:focus:


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