# Health care in Spain for British national



## BENTARM44 (Oct 27, 2013)

I am a new member of this forum, and this is my first post.
Hello to all other members and expats.
I’m afraid I have to start with what may be a stupid question, but my ignorance of the topic is great.
I’m a male UK national, born 1953.

In 2007 I left the UK and went to live in Thailand, where I still live.
In mid 2012 I detected lumps in my body where there should have been none, and was diagnosed, in Thailand, as having Lymphoma. In September2012 I visited UK to investigate treatment there, and was told by the Health service I would need to return to the UK permanently; and after over 6 months of continuous residence would, once again, qualify for UK State funded health care.
I considered a 6 month delay in treatment to be unwise, so decided to pay for treatment in Thailand. I have since had chemo, surgery, scans etc. This treatment reduced the symptoms, but I still have lymphoma; and my available funds do not allow any further such treatment here. 
I have no health care insurance, but as I have been diagnosed as having had lymphoma for at least 5 years; the “existing condition” clauses would have probably excluded me anyway.

So, my question is; 
Can I move to Spain and get free/cheap medical care/cancer treatment?
Would I have to reside there for 6 months, like the UK, prior to registration?

I do not intend working, and am able to support myself up to and beyond receiving my UK state pension.
I am considering buying a property in Galicia, if I can obtain satisfactory health care there within a reasonable time frame.

I will be very grateful for any info regarding this, and any lists of hoops I would need to jump through. 
Hopefully less than the ever increasing number of hoops required in Thailand.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

BENTARM44 said:


> I am a new member of this forum, and this is my first post.
> Hello to all other members and expats.
> I’m afraid I have to start with what may be a stupid question, but my ignorance of the topic is great.
> I’m a male UK national, born 1953.
> ...


:welcome:

quite a story - & I suspect that the answer I'm about to give won't help much

once you get your UK state pension, the UK will fund your healthcare here (under current rules), but until then, from what you have posted there is no chance at all of you getting free healthcare in Spain, at least to start with

however, a scheme has recently been introduced whereby anyone who has been registered as resident for a year can 'buy in' to state healthcare for something like 60€ a month, so in theory, after a year that would apply to you

I have to say 'in theory' because this is still very new & it isn't clear yet as to whether this will only apply to current residents (as the last changes did) or to all future residents - time will tell ..... & the rules are constantly changing atm 

even once you are able to access the state system, you have to pay for medication/prescriptions - there are various % payments .....pensioners pay 10% , I pay 40%


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## CapnBilly (Jun 7, 2011)

Bit confused here, because this has already been fully dealt with on another forum. I can assure you, the answers on this forum will be the same.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

CapnBilly said:


> Bit confused here, because this has already been fully dealt with on another forum. I can assure you, the answers on this forum will be the same.


lol - I thought it looked familiar!


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## BENTARM44 (Oct 27, 2013)

You dead right CapnBilly and xabiachica, I don't mean to waste anyone's time here; just trying to be thorough. 
I won't be posting on anymore Spain expat websites now.
Thanks for your replies.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

BENTARM44 said:


> You dead right CapnBilly and xabiachica, I don't mean to waste anyone's time here; just trying to be thorough.
> I won't be posting on anymore Spain expat websites now.
> Thanks for your replies.


no need to to disappear - you sometimes will get different info from different forums - but the better ones (such as this & the other one I saw your question on) will have the correct info


you're not wasting anyone's time - & maybe as you make your decisions & the discussions evolve it could help someone else reading it in the future


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## CapnBilly (Jun 7, 2011)

xabiachica said:


> no need to to disappear - you sometimes will get different info from different forums - but the better ones (such as this & the other one I saw your question on) will have the correct info you're not wasting anyone's time - & maybe as you make your decisions & the discussions evolve it could help someone else reading it in the future


 I agree with Xabiachica, and sometimes people do post the same question on both sites, but generally this is at the same time. I only posted because, I thought from your original post, it was clear that your best bet , was to move to the UK initially, as you wouldn't be entitled to any health cover in Spain. Xabiachica has already posted the same information, that Snikpoh would post on here, and I would post the same as well. In terms of information about your move, and clarifying the information I posted on the other site, I would post on the Britain site here, or on the other forum


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## Allie-P (Feb 11, 2013)

What a dreadful dilemma. I am very sorry......

I hope that you reconsider & keep us posted


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## BENTARM44 (Oct 27, 2013)

Thanks again to all posters. I must say, you are a mature and polite group; compared to some of the bitter "pissing contests" that I see all too often on some of the Thai expat forums.
I'm currently re-enquiring to the Truro Hospital to check if their chemo waiting list is still 2 days; as it was last year. Could be a "permanent" move back to the uk, in the Truro area, soon.


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## xabiaxica (Jun 23, 2009)

BENTARM44 said:


> Thanks again to all posters. I must say, you are a mature and polite group; compared to some of the bitter "pissing contests" that I see all too often on some of the Thai expat forums.
> I'm currently re-enquiring to the Truro Hospital to check if their chemo waiting list is still 2 days; as it was last year. Could be a "permanent" move back to the uk, in the Truro area, soon.


Good Luck with whatever you decide


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