1,600 British early retirees lose their health cover in the Valencia region

Spain News : Costa Blanca
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1,600 British early retirees lose their health cover in the Valencia region
By h.b. - Jun 25, 2008 - 7:32 AM
ALSO SEE : • Prison for Santander man who attacked his doctor - Sep 4, 2008 - 8:34 AM
• Biker gets foot replaced by Valencia team after accident amputation - Sep 3, 2008 - 7:08 AM

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The Valencian Regional Health Service say they will no longer treat those British retired residents who have not reached pensioner age.
Spanish newspaper El País has picked up on the policy change from the regional health service in Valencia which means that thousands of pre-retirement foreign residents in the region will no longer be able to obtain free health care.

Until now the Valencian public health service had an open-door policy for the hundreds of pre-retirement British residents in the region who were thus attended to in the region under a category of ‘extensión o demada’.

The Generalitat regional government said that some 3,000 foreigners have been benefitting from the arrangement, 1,600 of them British residents, and that it explained a high number of operations for problems such as cataracts, angina or other heart problems. The costs of these treatments was being met by the regional health service in Valencia which has said ‘no more’.

Pensioners are not affected as the Valencia health service can claim back the cost of their treatment from the British Government, and tourists also have no problems as the E-111 card covers their needs in Spain for as long as a year.
However those who retire early to the Costa Blanca are not covered unless that retirement has been forced by an accident or illness.

Now such British early retirees are obliged to take out private health insurance. The change in practice in Valencia was supported by both the Partido Popular and the Socialists in a move to better control access to health resources.
The move could well be followed by other regional health services in Spain.

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ALSO SEE :
• Prison for Santander man who attacked his doctor - Sep 4, 2008 - 8:34 AM
• Biker gets foot replaced by Valencia team after accident amputation - Sep 3, 2008 - 7:08 AM
• Europe pays 25million Euro for treatment of tourists in Andalucía - Aug 29, 2008 - 2:27 PM
• Woman paid 15,000 Euro compensation after breaking her hip in hospital - Aug 24, 2008 - 4:28 PM
• French plastic surgeon arrested in Girona - Aug 19, 2008 - 6:22 PM
• Spain ups her help in the fight against Aids - Aug 4, 2008 - 6:29 PM
• 10,000 consultations and operations delayed in Alicante province - Jul 31, 2008 - 8:23 AM
• Stomach reduction operation carried out through the vagina - Jul 24, 2008 - 8:21 AM
• Valencia health service investigating two possible cases of Mad Cow disease - Jul 21, 2008 - 7:28 AM
• 2,200 dirty establishments in Valencia region - Jul 18, 2008 - 8:13 AM
• Mariano Rajoy supports calls for a third Málaga hospital - Jul 8, 2008 - 7:41 AM

Comments

Ron
25 Jun 2008, 10:07

Re Health care in Valencia. Always thought a person had to be of retirement age to qualify for free health care in Spain, the only exception being where one person was thus, the other (if younger) would still get it as well. I was not awre that E111 card was for 12 months, I understood 3 months. Perhaps a reader cab quantify.

Mike Bissett
25 Jun 2008, 10:41

Has anyone thought about those people under pensionable age that have been receiving treatment while they have had their free health care? No private health insurance company will take over an expensive course of treatment such as for cancer, so withdrawing this facility is potentially putting lives at risk. I`m not sure how many people will have their treatment stopped now, but it shouldn't happen until their treatment is complete.

Er_Guiri
25 Jun 2008, 14:01

They can't do that. Under European Union laws, any European resident can recieve treatment in the European Unión
"free" if they've paid or pay social security, no matter what country. If you are under retirement age, you need E111, obviously, but if you're officialy retired in the UK, your retired throughout the EU. Picking on us again, by the looks of things. You can't get decent health cover down in Cadiz if you're british, neither: even if you are retired! Spanish health service is going the NHS way, guys: Watch out!

John
25 Jun 2008, 14:31

I hope it was just coincidence the Sanitas/Bupa advert accompanying your report suggesting the only option for Brit early-retirees is private medicine.

That's not the case here in Catalunya, where we took early retirement. We never expected nor sought free healthcare to which we had never contributed.

For a while my UK NI contributions were sufficient to cover our health costs. When that ran out we switched to Catalunya health system's very reasonable flat-rate monthly payment.

On balance, the Catalan health service is no better, no worse than the NHS. There is certainly no need for costly private health care.

kernowboy
25 Jun 2008, 20:46

It's already the same in Andalucia. Despite having paid UK National Insurance for 40 years, the "free" reciprocal arrangements with the spanish health service ran out after one year. Looks like Labour policies can follow you wherever you go!

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