UK Passport & Irish Passport what healthcare?

Hi Rick7591,

If you and your wife intend to live permanently in Spain, you both need to register your presence here after 90 days.  As a citizen of an EU member state, your wife's application is straightforward.  As she's not State Retirement age, she will need private health insurance, paid in full for the first year, to support her registration application.  There are many private health insurance companies on Spain.  For example, I'm 61 and insured with ASSSA, mid range cover with no excess (co-payments) and no exclusions, and my annual premium is €890.  It's worth noting that basic level cover is not acceptable for residency applications, neither are co-payments.

You can apply as a non-EU family member of an EU citizen - if you're not State Retirement age, you will also need PHI.

https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/residence/documents-formalities/non-eu-family-members-residence-card/indexamp_en.htm

Once you reach pensionable age, you can apply for the S1 from the NHS Overseas Healthcare Team, which will give you access to the Spanish state healthcare system:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/healthcare-in-spain-including-the-balearic-and-canary-islands#healthcare-if-you-live-and-work-in-spain

Kind regards, 

Kim

Thanks Kim, that’s great to know, will my wife be able to pay the monthly premium to access the Spanish healthcare system once she has completed the residency application or does she have to have private healthcare until she reaches retirement age?

Hi Rick,

Your wife doesn't have to keep her PHI after her first year of registration.  Instead, she could opt to switch to the "Convenio Especial", which costs €60 per month, until she reaches age 65, when it increases to €157 per month.  The advantage of the Convenio Especial is that it doesn't exclude pre-existing conditions.  However, neither the C.E., nor PHI, cover the cost of prescriptions.  Once she reaches retirement age and qualifies for her S1, the cost of any prescriptions will be based on her total income - typically, the charge to the patient is 10% of the full cost, although people on low incomes receive prescriptions free of charge.

Kind regards,

Kim

Thanks Kim, that’s everything I need to know 👍

It may help you if you have a look at the Citizens Advice Bureau Spain website for bureaucratic stuff and the N332 website for anything to do with driving in Spain (that is if you drive).   The site, and their Facebook page that has kept us up to date regarding the rules and regulations in respect of the virus, is run in conjunction with officers of the Guardia Civil for English speaking people.

Hi Ricky 

At 66 if you are in receipt of your old age pension you just go to your UK GP and get an S1 form.  This gives you free health care ( but not dentistry) in Spain as there is still a reciprocal agreement on health care between the 2 countries. 

If you're already in Spain and don't have a GP you can contact the correct people via the u.gov website. They are extremely helpful. 

This S1 form will also cover your spouse. 

Hi Lycka,

The S1 "certificate of entitlement" is obtained from the NHS Business Services Agency, not your GP.  As a dependant, Rick's wife may be entitled to "piggy-back" on his S1, until such time as she reaches pensionable age, when she must request her own S1; although,  as an Irish citizen, she may have to apply for her S1 from Ireland, rather than the UK, but that will depend on where she paid her Social Security contributions.  All the details are available in the Gov.UK link I provided in my previous post above.

Kind regards,

Kim

Thanks for the responses.

It’s not straight forward unfortunately as my wife was born and has worked her life in England. She will be obtaining residency once her foreign birth has been registered in Ireland and she has obtained a passport. As the application went in and was accepted only a month ago we don’t expect to get the birth recorded for two years. 

I am planning on retiring November 2023 so we will probably go down the NLV route for the first year and when the renewal comes up hopefully my wife will have her Irish passport by then.

Thanks for the update, Rick, we don't often hear about how things panned out for people.  Good luck with your future plans!

Kind regards, 

Kim