What type of healthcare would we qualify for in Spain?

Can anyone advise please. My husband and I are looking to move to Quesada area. I am 64 and he is 60. I am a UK pensioner, whilst my husband is not. We are confused about the type of healthcare we could obtain once we are residents. We are coming over in the next few weeks to house hunt, but need to clear up the differing information we have received. Will we qualify for free healthcare or will we need to take out private healthcare? Many thanks Margo

You will qualify as you are a pensioner and your husband will qualify on the strength of your retirement. Check from the horse mouth, the lady at the bot tom of the stairs in the Rojales townhall. She works for Valencia Health Authority. Mike.

If you need any up to date info please contact me as we went through the same thing, and people giving us bum info that cost us time and money, there is a lady in Torrevieja who deals with this, its really so simple.

If you are receiving a UK state pension, you need to transfer your healthcare across to Spain. Telephone the International Pensions Centre at Newcastle before you move on 0191 218 7777.. They will complete an S1 form and send it to you at your address in Spain. You will qualify for free Spanish health treatment as a "pensionista" but will have to pay a contribution towards your prescriptions, normally 10% of the cost up to a maximum of 8 euro a month if you earn less than 100,000 euro a year.
Your husband will receive free care as a "beneficiario" but will have to pay up to 40% of the cost of prescriptions.
The issuing of a health card (called a SIP in this region) is dependent on the pensionable age in your country of origin, in this case UK.
At Rojales town hall, there is a lady there who will complete all the forms once you have signed on the padron (equivalent of electoral roll in UK) which is done upstairs in the town hall. You will get a temporary health card there and then and will receive the full card after a month or so.
Once your husband reaches pensionable age, he will receive notification of his pension along with the completed S1 forms from the International Pensions Centre. He will then need to get his "beneficiario" card changed to a "pensionista" card to qualify for the 10% charges.
This is one of the easier things to do in Spain and the lady at Rojales town hall is excellent.

Hi Folks

Many thanks to all those who replied on this topic. Its good to know there is info available to navigate through the changes needed when moving to a new country. It makes it a much easier transition. Cheers Margo