Worried about Health care.

Hi,
We are thinking about retiring to the area, i am 67 and my wife is 66 , will we be covered by there health service, and what is the average cost of private health care if not, do you think things may change if we pull out of the EU ??
We are so looking forward to living in Spain, thanks
Ken

You will be fully covered if you apply for residencia and SIPs... the health service is very good and many would say it`s better than the uk.... by far... different, but on the whole ... better..allegedly.. ... at least I think so and have used it a few times.


Not sure about private, but you should not need it...

Yes you will be covered by the Spanish NHS. Fully. You're healthcare will be transferred to Spain by a form S1.
All treatment and consultations will be free as will prescriptions (at the moment).
Regarding the EU. I think we can all agree that nobody knows. Until treaties are agreed and signed it would all be best guesses. There will be a period of 2 years after the referendum to sort of these treaties if the vote is out.

Prescriptions will only be free if you are a fiscal resident, that means you have filled in a tax form otherwise you will pay 10% of cost if you income is less than 100,000 euros pa

Freddo I understood prescriptions were free here for pensioners?

I had to pay the 10 percent until just recently, now they are free....

.

Freddo is pointing out that, until you submit a tax return you are not on the system. This will be your first year normally. The card is linked to your tax return so they can see how much money you earn. Get your S1 in, say, October and you won't fill in a tax return until the following April which will be processed in about September. Until then you pay the 10% pensioner rate. Once a full time, fiscal resident, prescriptions will be free as they have been since January this year.

With reference to the above my husband and I want to retire next year to Spain I will be 63 and he will be 58 but we are concerned about healthcare. Will we need to have private healthcare and if so approx how much that would cost us. He may do part time work.

Less than 100 euros a month per person cost varies with company and cover pretty dam cheap compared to UK but look into it carfully as covers differ.

As you won't reach retirement age until 2019, then private insurance would be the best bet. The "Convenio Especial" or the Valencian health payments would kick in after you've been here a year. However, we have neighours under retirement age who get the temporary healthcard issued every 6 months and only pay for prescriptions.
The lady at the Rojales town hall who deals with health cards is extremely helpful and will do all she can to help once you become residents and go on the padron (electoral roll equivalent).
Healthcare in this area is not a great problem and you will never be turned away in an urgent case, honest.