Accessing UK NHS as a UK citizen with Spanish residencia - Page 2

tebo53 wrote on Tue Jan 11, 2022 10:57pm:

Hi Colin,

When you reach pension age and are entitled to UK government pension you will also be entitled to apply for healthcare via the S1 healthcare scheme which is paid by the UK government. The S1 scheme will entitle you to use the Spanish Healthcare services. 

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Having the S1 forms, which entitles you to healthcare in Spain paid for by the UK government will also entitle you to use the UK NHS When you visit the UK. 

You will be sent two copies of the original S1 forms, 1 set for the Spanish authorities and the other set for your use, I.e. to access the NHS in the UK

Steve 

Cheryl wrote on Tue Jan 11, 2022 11:06pm:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/healthcare-in-spain-including-the-balearic-and-canary-islands#getting-treatment-in-the-uk 

According to this, you cannot use your EHIC for NHS treatment in the UK as free NHS care is residency based and you are no longer a UK resident. You will have to use travel insurance.

Also, within the first 5 years of residency in Spain you are limited with the amount of time you can spend...

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... outside of Spain. It is 6 months in any one year and a maximum of 12 months overall otherwise your residency will be cancelled.

https://www.immigrationspain.es/en/maximum-time-outside-spain-without-losing-residency/ 

colin4457 wrote on Tue Jan 11, 2022 11:24pm:

Hi Cheryl,

Thanks for the info. However, the article you included on healthcare clearly states that you can get access to free healthcare if you have a current EHIC card, which we both have. The cards expire after we reach UK state pension age so we can either renew them or obtain S1 forms which will also e...

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...nsure free access to the NHS and Spanish health system.

Regarding duration of stay, our intention is to comply with the residency requirement of 6 months. However, we have been advised by our accountant that the Spanish authorities are reasonably relaxed about staying less than 6 months so long as you pay your Spanish taxes. The counter to that is that the UK HMRC may also want to tax those that stay in the UK for longer than 183 days in any tax year. A tricky balancing act thanks to the gift that keeps on giving (i.e. Brexit!)

Colin

Peter3473 wrote on Wed Jan 12, 2022 9:26am:

Again, it has always been on my understanding that persons under the uk state pension age who are no longer a UK resident, the Ehic card is not valid for use in the Uk or Spain, but would like to point out that before brexit, some people used their Ehic card to gain Spanish residency and were suc...

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...cessful. 

Jan1961 wrote on Wed Jan 12, 2022 11:04am:

Hi,I was told when I obtained Spanish residency in 2019 that once a month the Spanish authorities send a list of new Spanish residents to the NHS so that they can be deleted from the UK health system. Therefore I have always assumed I am not entitled to NHS care. I was also told to scrap my UK EH...

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...IC and apply for a Spanish EHIC card (which I did) if I needed medical treatment on holiday in other European countries. Of course at the time the UK was in Europe. 
Now I would expect to pay for any treatment etc if I found myself in the UK.

I am not saying this is correct it is just what I was told.

colin4457 wrote on Tue Jan 11, 2022 6:08pm:

My wife and I obtained residencia in 2020 under the Brexit withdrawal agreement. We currently share our time between the UK and Spain as we have an elderly parent who benefits from our ongoing support. Neither of us are yet at pension age  but have taken out private health insurance - as req...

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...uired to obtain residencia. We also have UK issued EHIC cards which expire in 2025.

What isn't clear to us is whether we are still able to access the UK NHS in the same way we could before obtaining residencia. The NHS web site doesn't make it clear so I have submitted an online query to them asking for clarification. Given that they are rather busy at the moment, a reply may be a long time coming.

Is anyone else in the same position and, if so, what is your opinion and can you point me to something official?

Thanks in advance!

Colin

Cheryl wrote on Wed Jan 12, 2022 10:47am:

"If you are a UK national and move to the EU, you should not expect to be able to use NHS services for free when visiting the UK unless you have an EHIC, PRC or S2 to show your healthcare costs are funded by the EU country in which you now live, or another exemption applies."

Unfortun...

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...ately a UK issued EHIC does not show that your health costs are being met by Spain, it shows they are being met by the UK which you are no longer entitled to because you are no longer resident in the UK.
Once you reach UK state retirement age you will be covered under the S1.

Jan1961 wrote on Wed Jan 12, 2022 11:04am:

Hi,I was told when I obtained Spanish residency in 2019 that once a month the Spanish authorities send a list of new Spanish residents to the NHS so that they can be deleted from the UK health system. Therefore I have always assumed I am not entitled to NHS care. I was also told to scrap my UK EH...

Read more...

...IC and apply for a Spanish EHIC card (which I did) if I needed medical treatment on holiday in other European countries. Of course at the time the UK was in Europe. 
Now I would expect to pay for any treatment etc if I found myself in the UK.

I am not saying this is correct it is just what I was told.