# Health Insurance



## Jean1952 (Nov 12, 2013)

Hi
Can anyone give me the names of good private health insurance companies.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

Jean1952 said:


> Hi
> Can anyone give me the names of good private health insurance companies.


Please use the search facility on this forum as the very same question has been asked and answered many times before.

Every body has a different experience so it is worth looking through previous threads to get some answers.


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## ExpatWannabee (Jul 6, 2011)

The good news is that last week the Valencia Community government announced rates for "buying in" to National Health Service coverage. If you're under 65 it will cost you €60 per month. If you're over 65 it will be more than double that, something like €150+ per month. The bad news is that you have to live in Spain for a year before you can join the program.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

ExpatWannabee said:


> The good news is that last week the Valencia Community government announced rates for "buying in" to National Health Service coverage. If you're under 65 it will cost you €60 per month. If you're over 65 it will be more than double that, something like €150+ per month. The bad news is that you have to live in Spain for a year before you can join the program.


Yes that's actually national and came into force a couple of months ago. The only catch is you have to have been a registered resident for a year before you qualify, as you say.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

ExpatWannabee said:


> The good news is that last week the Valencia Community government announced rates for "buying in" to National Health Service coverage. If you're under 65 it will cost you €60 per month. If you're over 65 it will be more than double that, something like €150+ per month. The bad news is that you have to live in Spain for a year before you can join the program.


The bad news, though, is that this is per person so for a family of 5 like us that would be 300 euros per month! Which is then almost as much as private cover for a family.


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## CapnBilly (Jun 7, 2011)

snikpoh said:


> The bad news, though, is that this is per person so for a family of 5 like us that would be 300 euros per month! Which is then almost as much as private cover for a family.


 Good value if you have pre-existing conditions, and I'm not going to say (again) that you would be entitled to free healthcare, irrespective of the fact that your local INSS office say you're not, (and I know lots of people that have registered). I will say however, that Spanish law says that " In any event, foreign citizens under the age of eighteen will receive health care under the same terms as Spanish citizens.". I will also say, that you can apply to any INSS office to register, or, you can apply online, so could bypass the local office. I will be saving €1800 next year on private health care. That is serious money.


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

ExpatWannabee said:


> The good news is that last week the Valencia Community government announced rates for "buying in" to National Health Service coverage. If you're under 65 it will cost you €60 per month. If you're over 65 it will be more than double that, something like €150+ per month. The bad news is that you have to live in Spain for a year before you can join the program.


I thought once drawing pension healthcare was covered?


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

cambio said:


> I thought once drawing pension healthcare was covered?


yes it is - but of course not everyone will get a pension at 65 now, so at least if they qualify residence-wise, they can get affordable healthcare until they do


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## CapnBilly (Jun 7, 2011)

xabiachica said:


> yes it is - but of course not everyone will get a pension at 65 now, so at least if they qualify residence-wise, they can get affordable healthcare until they do


They will until December 2018.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

CapnBilly said:


> They will until December 2018.


there was me expecting to get mine at 60.... I had a letter from the DWP a few weeks ago... I'll be 66


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## CapnBilly (Jun 7, 2011)

xabiachica said:


> there was me expecting to get mine at 60.... I had a letter from the DWP a few weeks ago... I'll be 66


 Me too. I lose about 6 months. My wife lost nearly 2 years, but on the plus side she got a full pension with the reduction in years.


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

CapnBilly said:


> Me too. I lose about 6 months. My wife lost nearly 2 years, but on the plus side she got a full pension with the reduction in years.


The years have gone back up now to 35 for the new rate pension.

Yes December 2018 , wonderful ,mine was due January 2019. It is now May. That's at the moment of course. If they don't change it again & if I don't die.
When we moved here my wife had 14 years to go before receiving her pension. 
We've been here 11 years & she now has 8 years to go. :lol: To say she isn't happy is putting it mildly.


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## Megsmum (Sep 9, 2012)

thanks guys, for clarifying
x


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## Nonnamags (Jan 10, 2013)

xabiachica said:


> yes it is - but of course not everyone will get a pension at 65 now, so at least if they qualify residence-wise, they can get affordable healthcare until they do


Does anyone on this forum know if Andalucia has adopted the buy in scheme? I've checked their web page and it doesn't look as if they have.... ((


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Nonnamags said:


> Does anyone on this forum know if Andalucia has adopted the buy in scheme? I've checked their web page and it doesn't look as if they have.... ((


it's national

go to your INSS & ask about the _convenio especial _


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## Allie-P (Feb 11, 2013)

The 'buy in' sounds like a sensible scheme. Perhaps, it should be adopted by the UK - apropos, all the current 'fuss' about free medical care for immigrants !!

I was one of the 'lucky' ones - receiving my state pension at 60 years of age.

A Very Happy New Year to All Forum members - with special thanks to all those who have supplied me with helpful information, either directly or indirectly


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## Triker54 (Nov 10, 2013)

I'm at the stage of doing research before moving to Spain in 2015. It's very confusing at times as I am constantly reading conflicting advice about almost everything. I thought I'd got the Health Service provision sussed - until now!
My wife and I will be 62 when we move and are both from the U.K. I knew we needed private medical insurance to get our residentia, but have read that, once this was granted, we could drop the private insurance after a year and use the recriprocal Health Care agreement between the U.K. and Spain. From what people are saying here I've got this badly wrong. Could someone please clarify what the situation is?
Many thanks,
Peter


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

Triker54 said:


> I'm at the stage of doing research before moving to Spain in 2015. It's very confusing at times as I am constantly reading conflicting advice about almost everything. I thought I'd got the Health Service provision sussed - until now!
> My wife and I will be 62 when we move and are both from the U.K. I knew we needed private medical insurance to get our residentia, but have read that, once this was granted, we could drop the private insurance after a year and use the recriprocal Health Care agreement between the U.K. and Spain. From what people are saying here I've got this badly wrong. Could someone please clarify what the situation is?
> Many thanks,
> Peter


that's sort of half right 

yes you would need private health cover for the first year, unless you are in receipt of your state pension - in which case you qualify under the reciprocal agreement

you don't qualify under the reciprocal agreement at all until you get the state pension

under the new _convenio especial _however, after you have been a registered resident for 12 months you can 'buy in' to state healthcare until you _do _qualify under the reciprocal agreement


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

It may also be that people are confused of the other rule;

That is, if you were resident in Spain before (I think) April 2012, then you could get free health care. If you became resident after that date, then you were not eligible.


The other problem is that the UK keep moving retirement age - so the date that you are able to get your S1 keeps extending!

I had planned to retire early, did all my sums on the basis of getting my *FULL *state pension when I get to *65*. Now I find that I have to wait until I get to 67 (or more) and that I need at least 30 years (probably more) years of NI payments to get a full pension. 

At the beginning of last year, I got a pension forecast - no problem, full pension at 65. Later in the year I asked again because of the changes. I was told that they couldn't give a forecast as things were changing too fast! I asked if I could top up my NI contributions so that I could get a full pension and was told *NO* as things were still in a state of flux.

I have now asked again and been told that I am outside the 6 year 'window' - basically I'm [email protected]!!!


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## gus-lopez (Jan 4, 2010)

snikpoh said:


> I have now asked again and been told that I am outside the 6 year 'window' - basically I'm [email protected]!!!


Well that's not correct. You can pay in for any missing weeks/months/years for up to 6 previous years at the current rate. 

Voluntary national insurance contributions - The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS)

The number of qualifying years rises to 35 as from April 2016, when the new pension amount comes in.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

gus-lopez said:


> Well that's not correct. You can pay in for any missing weeks/months/years for up to 6 previous years at the current rate.
> 
> Voluntary national insurance contributions - The Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS)
> 
> The number of qualifying years rises to 35 as from April 2016, when the new pension amount comes in.


Thanks, I'll have to ask them again as I've now been out of the UK for over 6 years.

Interestingly, these new rules have still not been passed into law. From their site;

_This planner uses the rules currently in force. It does not take into account the proposed changes connected with the reform of the state pension. The planner will be updated if the changes to the state pension system become law._


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## xzabal (Oct 18, 2013)

Jean1952 said:


> Hi
> Can anyone give me the names of good private health insurance companies.


I just signed with Adeslas, a private insurance provided by the Caixa. My sisters, who are spaniards, recomended this insurance company. I am 67 and my wife is 53, and we will be paying 207 euros/month for full coverage (no deductibles)


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## AllHeart (Nov 22, 2013)

What an interesting thread! These are issues I'm looking into too.

I found what you're talking about here re the national healthcare agreement: Salud

This seems similar to what Obama is setting up in the States.

I've been looking into retirement qualifications as you're discussing here. The new law is indeed confusing to me too. This is the best site I could find re retirement laws: Seguridad Social:Trabajadores

I think the bottom line is that even with the new law, after 15 years of working and contributing to a pension, you can get 50% of your income as pension. But as you say here, the laws are changing so to predict 15 years into the future is still guessing. That's exactly my goal at 50 - move to Spain, work for 15 years, then retire with my pensions from Spain and Canada.

I hope those links are helpful. If I said something wrong, please correct me, as I don't want to lead others astray.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

snikpoh said:


> It may also be that people are confused of the other rule;
> 
> That is, if you were resident in Spain before (I think) April 2012, then you could get free health care. If you became resident after that date, then you were not eligible.
> 
> ...


I would check on that if I were you. It is my understanding that you can buy years up to the last six at the current rate (but no further back than that) in other words, we are in 2013-14 so you should be able to buy from 2007-08 up to now but not before that. So this year you can buy six years, next year you will be able to buy another one and so on after that, unless, that is, they move the goalposts.

SWMBO is doing just that.


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