health care in Spain

This was sent to us by the British Legion in Orihuela on the Costa Blanca about obtaining health care here in Spain if you are not a pensioner.

Due to law changes in Spain, people should be eligible to register for healthcare on the basis of holding a residency certificate, as long as it was issued before 24^th April 2012.  This is on the condition that they are not eligible for healthcare through any other means e.g. as a state pensioner, and do not earn more than 100,000 euros annually.

They will need to contact the Overseas Healthcare Team in Newcastle (Tel: 0044 191 218 1999) to request a ‘legislation letter’ in Spanish, stating that they are not eligible for cover from the UK. They may also be asked to prove their UK income and should contact HMRC to ask for confirmation of  this.  The document below explains this process.

What to do if you need to provide evidence of your UK income when applying for foreign health care or social security benefits.

If you live abroad and apply for health care, social security benefits or permanent residence status, you may be asked to provide a record  of your recent UK taxable income.

Documents you can use as evidence of your UK taxable income include your latest:

·         Self assessment tax calculation (SA302),  or

·         PAYE (pay as you earn) calculation, if you receive one.

If you do not have either of these documents, or need confirmation that you had no U taxable income in a particular tax year in order to prove your income for a foreign authority, contact HMRC.

You can phone 0044 135 535 9022 from abroad and ask for written details of:

·         Your taxable income in the UK for a particular tax year, or

·         Confirmation that HMRC have no record of taxable income in the UK for a particular tax year. 

You must state that:

• You are living or working abroad; and you need proof of income, or lack  of it, for and overseas tax authority.

Alternatively you can make the request in writing to HMRC at:

Customer Operations

PAYE and Self Assessment

Lynx House

1 Northern Road

Cosham

Portmouth

PO6 3XA.

On the same wavw length, the follow should be of interest

British citizens in Spain are being urged to make correct use of European Health Insurance Cards (EHICs) in a new campaign that has been launched by both the UK Government and Valencia Health Authority, but this will be the same over the whole of Spain. A campaign to explain how British citizens in Spain should use UK-issued European Health Insurance Cards (EHICs) has been launched by the UK Department of Health and the Valencia Health Authority.

The EHIC Campaign aims to greatly raise awareness among British citizens and Spanish healthcare staff in the Valencia Autonomous Community over the next 15 months. The innovative partnership between a UK government department and a Spanish regional authority has now been recognised by the European Union, which is funding the campaign.

Launching the campaign in Alicante, David Pennington, Head of the Department of Health’s International Healthcare team, said:

 
“Many British citizens living in Spain are confused about how to access state healthcare and many use their EHIC cards when they should be accessing healthcare in another way. This campaign explains who can use a UK-issued EHIC and what it’s for. It also tells people about other ways to access state healthcare in Spain, depending on their circumstances.”

What you should know about the UK European Health Insurance Card:-

The UK European Health Insurance Card should only be used to access medically-necessary state treatment during the course of a temporary stay in Spain. It does not provide access to all state treatment but for those in Spain on a temporary stay, it is the correct way to access state healthcare. 

However British citizens who live mainly in Spain should change the way they are registered, because for them the UK European Health Insurance Card is not the correct form of health cover. The new EHIC marketing and advertising campaign will explain how to do this. The campaign will also explain to the administrative staff of the Valencia Health Authority how the UK covers its citizens in Spain and how the UK reimburses Spain for the cost of medical care provided to British citizens. British citizens can find comprehensive information on the use of EHICs at www.healthcareinspain.eu.

An extensive radio and newspaper advertising campaign will further promote the correct use of EHICs, and leaflets will be distributed through health centres and at public events. 

Some two million British tourists visit the Valencia region every year and there are an estimated 300,000 British residents in the region, some 40% of the total in Spain. Although the campaign is centred on Valencia, much of the information is relevant to British citizens across Spain.

More details can be found on www.healthcareinspain.eu