Healthcare with 10yr Residencia

Could you give the link please? I've just had another read of what I can see on Gov.UK and it is only if you are in receipt of a UK state pension or certain exportable benefits.

This story has been circulating for years. 

My wife and I have tried twice, in Valencia and Alicante, and failed twice. 

I have heard many tales of success third or fourth hand, but never from someone who has themselves succeeded. 

I am on the understanding that you would in your position be able to join the Convenio Especial Generalitat Valencia at a cost of 60 Euro per month each person, rising to 157 Euro per month from the age of 65 years old, you need to contact the NHS business services authority on +44 (0) 191 218 1999 or email [email protected] who will send you a letter in English and Spanish stating that the UK is not responsible for your healthcare, unless you are entitled to a S1 Uk state pension or some other means of disability allowance. On contacting the NHS they will ask you questions about how long you have lived and been resident in Spain, they will ask you questions on when was the last time you obtained any medical treatment from the UK including your GP and the EHIC/GHIC Card, hopefully not over the last 10 years,l. As stated in your post you have been resident for 10 years and signed on the Padron, what medical/health coverage have you had , for instance Private Health Insurance. I can not find anything on the Uk gov website that you or even others are entitled to register for Spanish health care, unless there is employment involved. Good luck and let us know if there is away around the system.

After living in Spain for 10 years you can apply for citizenship and if successful I would think that you would get free healthcare. Maybe that is where its coming from. 

Steve 

Hi Cheryl

I’m not sure how to get the link from my phone. 
it in the Brexit section: Guidance - Healthcare for UK Nationals living in Spain.

After the Contents section, the third bullet point says: 

• through entitlement to healthcare as a permanent resident if they’ve lived in Spain for 5 years …. then scroll down to If you are not working and not entitled to an S1 form

  If you’ve been a resident in Spain for 5 years or more, you can apply for permanent residency. This will give you access to state healthcare on the same basis as a Spanish citizen.

  Once you’re a permanent resident, you need to register for healthcare at your local INSS office.

  You’ll need to show a ‘legislation letter’ (‘documento de no exportación’ in Spanish) stating that you are not covered by the UK for healthcare. You can request this by calling NHS Overseas Healthcare Services.

  NHS Overseas Healthcare Services 
  Telephone: +44 (0)191 218 1999 
  Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm 
  Saturday, 9am to 3pm 
  

  The INSS will give you a document which you need to take to your local health centre.

  My friends have recently had to self fund some very expensive Radiotherapy, which wasn’t covered by his private healthcare policy, and are now looking at the possibility of more radio or chemotherapy, so this is pretty urgent. They have been legally registered for a number of years and recently renewed their TIE with a 10yr permanent card.
  

  Any help would be very much appreciated. 

Yes this had been doing the rounds for a long time but verifiable reports of anyone actually getting it are non existent.

It's been a popular topic among the American community who have no equivalent to an S1 to look forward to.

I'm PM'ing you a link for further reading on the subject.

BTW this if far from the first time the advice on the UK website has been  misleading if not woefully incorrect, and they don't correct it even when told.

The letter being referred will be a statement from the NHS that you are not entitled to cover from the UK and there is an underlying principal across the EU that without the possibility to secure health cover from any other source you should be entitled to it in the place in which you are legally resident.

That's all well and good but will take into account that to have been legally resident you must have had private health insurance so you do have cover available and you cannot voluntarily cancel it to then claim you do not.

There is also the fact that some years back Valencia decided that they were going to grant free health care to all legal residents, it was struck down by central government but not before some people were so granted it and never had it withdrawn.

I would guess the above to be more likely to be where the idea of free health cover after 10 years originates.

Friends of ours became legal Spanish citizens last year, c/w Spanish passports etc. The process after application took several years and an incredible amount of legalistic hassle. They were reluctantly awarded Spanish state healthcare, but this is not a given. They had previously lived and worked in France for over twenty five years, although retaining British nationality until their application was accepted.