Healthcare

One of the key concerns in moving abroad is what happens if you are ill, or at least it should be.

Whilst we are happy to moan about healthcare in this country there is no doubt that many of us have never considered the need to budget for private healthcare. Some have the benefit of an appropriate policy funded by an employer, but it’s not really like paying for it out of your own bank account. There is then the question of are there doctors nearby, how do you make an appointment, where are the nearest hospitals, do you have to pay and how do you get any medication you might need?

It’s a complicated topic and you need to really check it out for your own circumstances but for Neil & I it is fairly simple. As we are both below retirement age, and will be for a number of years yet we will need to have private healthcare cover. However, because we have been working full-time and paid our NI contributions in the last 3 years, we will be eligible for free healthcare for up to 2 years when we first go out there. We need to apply for an E106 before we go and then on arrival we register with the local healthcare authorities and our cover is in place. So, the next stage is finding suitable insurers to offer us private healthcare once the E106 expire. Contributors to various forums suggest that premiums are cheaper from Spanish companies than the UK ones that cover expats, at least I will have time to check that out before we need to decide who to take our private health care with, and we don’t need private cover from day 1 but I do need to consider our current age and that as we get older the premiums will increase.

However, if in the meantime we start to work in Spain and make contributions to their system, we may become eligible for cover and not need private cover.

And just to make a complicated topic, further complicated different regions in Spain have their own laws, so I need to check the situation in Almeria when we get there – just to be sure.

Whilst one of the main reasons for moving to Spain is the more relaxed and healthier lifestyle, especially the benefits living there should have on my arthritis, it would be foolish to assume we won’t need healthcare and not ensure we have it in place.