We contacted the Department of Health direct. You can do this by email or phone. We have found them most helpful especially when I managed to lose our original papers and had to ask for duplicates to be sent to our Spanish address.
I took early retirement at 57 last Nov. They told me I was covered under an E106 until the beginning of Jan 2009 as I had made sufficient contributions prior to taking early retirement. From the end of Feb 2009 when I am 60 I will be covered under anE120. Although my husband is younger than me he will also be covered as my dependant. During the period of seven weeks when we won't be covered we will either have to risk it, take out private health insurance or go on a long holiday with travel insurance!
On arriving in Spain we had to take our E106 paperstto the appropriate Spanish Social Security Office to get them stamped. We then had to take these along with our E106 Card and passport to the local Health Centre.
Health care is excellent and prescriptions are charged at around a third of the actual cost which is usually substantially less than the English prescription charge.
If you have a chronic condition of any kind it is best to get a letter from your GP or consultant outlining the condition and the medication.
When making an appointment you will need to provide a photocopy of your health card. It is a good idea to make several photocopies of your card, your passport and your E106 documents once they have been stamped in Spain.
Hope this helps.
Jenny