Prescrptions

There is no ‘standard’ prescription charge as in UK. The cost is dependent upon your medical cover in principle. If you have private medical insurance, the medications will be chargeable at full retail, unless your particular insurance deems otherwise - some of them cover a proportion of cost; except usually for in hospital medication which would be covered; you need to check your policy details. If you have a SIP card and effectively your medical cover is with the Spanish system, although basically repaid by the UK government, it is income related; below 18K income level it is free; however optical and dental are all private and chargeable here. Above this level, I believe it is a sliding scale of percentage of cost.

Hi Stephanie86

Very helpful.

We don't have either private insurance or an SIP card just now, however we have now made the application for residency, and will be getting a TIE card. I'm hoping this will be the same as the SIP. As far as the €18k goes, is that, per person or for a couple?

The SIP card is nothing to do with the TIE. The TIE is basically the register of legal foreign residents. The SIP card is available to people aged over 65 in possession of form S1 from the DWP; this S1 entitles the holder to register with the Spanish Health system after jumping through the hoops of residency, padron etc.

If you are not eligible for the SIP (which will also not be available after Jan 1st to new residents, unless some new reciprocal agreement is reached) then you are obliged to have fully comprehensive private insurance, covering all and every pre-existing condition. This will be required as a condition of obtaining Residency.

The NIE is your Spanish identification number, held under various designations by all Spanish nationals and foreigners; it is your universal ID, used for everything from bank accounts to taxes to anything else you can think of.

I am not certain but presume that inn the case of a couple the 18K may be for both of you, not individually, but am not absolutely certain.

To obtain residency you must also show regular incomings and outgoings from your Spanish bank account ie utilities etc to prove that you really live here.

We have thr NIE numbers and are registered on the Padron. We also have the S1 certificates. I am over 65, but my wife is 62. Does this mean she will have to have private insurance even though she has an S1 in her own name?

No, sorry , it was me generalizing. It’s in receipt of UK pension, so women over 60.

She doesn't receive a UK pension either. The pension age for women is now 66

Well, if they’ve issued an S1 then it should be OK. I believe she may also be entitled as a family member to be registered as your dependent, but would assume that is the function of her own S1.

So will we still need the SIP?

YES!!! The SIP is the Spanish health service card, issued by the local area Health Authority. It has an individualized registration number and has to be quoted/shown at every appointment etc. The S1 is the document issued by Newcastle which currently entitles you to register with the Spanish Health care system, thus obtaining a Spanish card.

In principle the UK S1 tells the Spanish authorities that the UK Health Service will pick up the tab for your treatment (it’s obviously not individual, but aggregated and presumably a transaction occurs annually). This will not be available to ex-pats looking to become resident here after the official end of the transition period at the end of this year.

You have to make an appointment with the social services office - I don’t know if Gandia comes under Denia or has it’s own - and rock up with every piece of paper you can think of, and they will issue the authorization to obtain a SIP,, which you take to your local Centro de Salud where they will laboriously complete various online forms again, issue temporary SIP and inn roughly another three or four weeks you will be awarded the official credit card sized plastic SIP. When you ring for a doctor’s appointment the first enquiry will be ‘numero de SIP?”