EHIC's hidden probelm

Just an update with new ‘be aware’ info..

My son went back for the dressing to be changed after a week,  When we asked for a repeat prescription they said he must get it from his GP. That is as it would be for a person who is resident in Spain.

We explained that of course my son does not have a GP in Spain and thus he would have to make an appointment using his EHIC to see a doctor.   They had second thoughts and my son was given a manuscript prescription on a letter-headed sheet of paper.  They thought it might be accepted at a pharmacy.  It was,

Another ‘interesting’ point. The first chemist charged 80 euros for the 10 anti-coagulant injections, the second one, which I know well, charged 60 euros for the same pack,

Thus be aware if you are buying medications, even on a prescription, that just the same as in UK they do not have a fixed price i.e. the chemist can charge what they like, so maybe sometimes it is worth shopping around.

I had a similar experience with Boots in UK, they charged a lot more than Lloyd, for the same item.

This message was last edited by johnzx on 26/08/2017.

I find this surprising. I have bought certain medications over the counter in various pharmacies, and the price has always been exactly the same wherever I go. As far as I was aware, the prices are fixed. The only variation normally is if you purchase the generic rather than a "brand". My regular pharmacy always offers the cheaper generic version, even if you have a prescription for the known brand of a certain drug. I seem to remember something about this being introduced as an obligation on the part of the pharmacist a while ago. Are you sure the anti-coagulant packs were the same brand?

The other point is that you rarely need a prescription for anything in Spain - I've yet to discover anything that you can't get without a prescription. A friend of a friend who lives in Morocco asked me to buy and send her some cancer medication a while ago; it cost nearly €100 (it costs a lot more in Morocco) but I didn't need a prescription. So the only advantage of having a prescription - but only if it's issued on the social security - is that you get a discount. Depending on the medication, it can be quite generous, and you'll almost always  pay less than on the NHS (£8.60 per item) - unless of course you're a pensioner or have a medical exemption certificate. But if you have a private prescription, you'll pay full price anyway. 

As for claiming back the cost of the prescription meds via the EHIC, I don't think your son will be able to:

https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/travel-health-and-european-health-insurance-card-ehic#toc-6

Roberto.

Really? Isn't you'll almost certainly pay less on the NHS a bit of a generalisation? For a start, only in England are prescriptions paid for and even then there are a host of exemptions. You don't need to be a pensioner to get them free as the age starts at over 60.

My son in law just visited and he need an inhaler plus some dermo cream. The inhaler was 3.50 and the cream just under 5 euro. My daughter said they were only available in prescription in England so would have cost £17.20 there.

And as for fixed prices at pharmacies, no chance.  Omeprozole in the pharmacy in the center of our town are €12.60 but our local one is only €2.43 for a month supply. Same box, same brand. That seems a bit extreme but we have learned. 

In UK I used to use a private prescription, free from a friend, my GP.  It was he who suggested that as the cost  over the counter was less than I would have paid on NHS.  I was taking one Indocid a day,  The script was for 1,000, to be repeated three times

Roberto.  My son asked the pharmacist about the difference on price and he said there was no fixed price

PS He would not supply my son wothout a pescription

Mariedav, I can't quite follow your post. " Isn't you'll almost certainly pay less on the NHS a bit of a generalisation?" I didn't say that, I said you'll almost always pay less than on the NHS - and I did also say unless you're (I stand corrected) over 60 (which most pensioners are, so I wasn't actually incorrect) or on an exemption.

You then went on to prove my point anyway, saying what cost €8.50 in Spain would cost £17.20 in England - so I'm not sure what point you're trying to make? Perhaps you just didn't read my post properly?

I would suggest the pharmacy in your town centre is just ripping people off (foreigners, perhaps?) Omerprazole 20mg costs €2.42 - I've bought them in plenty of different pharmacies, always the exact same price. In fact, I'm not sure when they stopped, but the RRP used to be printed on the boxes. 

John, I'm quite sure the NHS is overcharging on plenty of meds. Regular blood pressure pills, for example Acetensil 20mg cost €1.61 in Spain - with a Soc Sec prescription you only pay 10% i.e. €0.16. For under 60s with no exemptions, you'd pay €8.60 in England. 

I am a little surprised you couldn't buy the anticoagulant without a prescription, although I guess in the wrong hands it could be extremely dangerous. I know certain meds are restricted, for example thyroid medication - you can only buy one packet at a time, pharmacies aren't allowed to sell more to one person - although there's nothing to stop you going around several pharmacies and stockpiling. 

Sorry, I read it wrong, Apologies.

I get the generic bit, though. The pharmacy in town will give you a branded paracetamol at over 5 euro whereas our one gives you a generic at 57 cents. In Zenia Boulevard pharmacy (yes, ripping people off) they charge 23 euro for Omeprozol so it does pay to shop around. 

No problem.

I definitely remember all medications having the RRP printed on the boxes, but checking my stash now none of them do, so maybe when they stopped doing that, some pharmacies started taking things into their own hands and charging what they like when they can get away with it - for example, in areas with lots of foreign residents and tourists! There was a scandal a while back about pharmacies not getting paid (reimbursed) by the government for prescriptions, many of them struggling to pay their bills as a result. Maybe this is their way of compensating.

Whilst the UK's NHS is clearly overcharging some people for their meds, it's surprisingly (or maybe not!) generous to others: for example, the aforementioned meds for hypothyroidism qualify one for medical exemption in the UK, which then means all prescriptions are free. Although prescriptions are heavily discounted, there is no similar exemption in Spain.

I do not see why any pharmacy/chemist UK or Spain should not charge what they like for over the counter drugs. You are perfectly entitled to shop around and buy wherever you want. It is only the manufacturer that can choose to declare a RRP (Recommended not compulsory). Tesco and Asda don’t have RRP on a bag of potatoes. Anyone overcharging would soon be out of business.

With regard to a proper doctor’s prescription in Spain issued in conjunction with a SIPP card, the price is fixed and stated on the prescription.

Bamber : With regard to a proper doctor’s prescription in Spain issued in conjunction with a SIPP card, the price is fixed and stated on the prescription   

I think you are mistaken.  I have never seen  price  on a prescription issued by a doctor, either on a Social Security one (NHS)  nor a private one, and I have been on the Spanish health system for 30 years. And as I said,  ALL medications, over the counter and prescription in Spain, just like in UK, are not subject to a fixed price.

(Also, in the case of repeat prescription for those registered,  they are set up on the computerised system so one just produces their heath  card which is read by the computer reader in the pharmacist),

Bamber:   I do not see why any pharmacy/chemist UK or Spain should not charge what they like for over the counter drugs.

In my post I was referring to prescription medication supplied on a prescription issued by a doctor in a Regional hospital.    I was only commenting on the variation in price to alert others who might not have been aware of that.       I was not expressing an opinion.

Well Johnzx I can assure you I have in front of me a document (TRATAMIENTOS VIGENTES) a Spanish 12 month repeat presciption scedule with 7 items on it. They all have normal prices and my discout price according to my aportion. The document has a bar code, dates, name, sip number. It is issued by either your doctor or the hospital.

What do you make of that?

Every prescription  I have had in all the years I have been in spain the price has been listed 

I don't post very often and this thread typifies why

Too many gobsh***es spouting off 

The topic is misleading and there are no  hidden problems in the EHIC card just people simply not taking the time to understand the system and the rules

What do I make of that ?

We as most of us know the various Regional Health Services have different rules.  That was why I said,  I had never seen, not that it was never so.

Nevertheless,  I think the thread may help those, who may need to know,

This message was last edited by johnzx on 28/08/2017.

Hmm.  I only get one prescription a month and it's on repeat. The price is marked on the prescription plus the percentage I have to pay which says 10% but I'm charged nothing when I go to collect it.

Even when I have had one off prescriptions the price is also marked. The pharmacy takes the barcode off the box and they will be reimbursed that amount so, whilst I agree a pharmacy can charge what they like for OTC meds, prescription medication will have a fixed, agreed price. 

Still, gone off the topic a bit.  However, some time ago before we moved here permanently, hubby had to go to A&E and used his EHIC and was issued a prescription that had the price printed on that and that's what he paid at the pharmacy (full price). 

Whether the price is printed on the box (as I remember it being) or on a social security prescription (presumably in areas where you get a SIPP card you still get a paper prescription?), or if you use the electronic system such as in Andalucia and therefore don't see a price, I'm pretty certain that any medications issued under a social security prescription (and that would include those issued when using an EHIC) have a fixed price. Logical, really, since the government is footing the bill, and they're not going to allow pharmacies to make prices up to suit their bottom line. Furthermore, what you actually pay is based on a percentage system - and again, the govt. isn't going to agree to pay up to 90% of the cost of your meds, if the pharmacist is free to say 90% of how much. For the same reason, there was a ruling introduced not long ago that pharacies have to offer the consumer the generic, even if their GP has written a prescription for a specific brand. If you Google (in Spanish) there's loads of info about it, under such headings as sistema de precios de referencia medicamentos. For example: "The Government establishes the criteria and procedures for the pricing of medicines and health products that can be financed by the National Health System, both for dispensing drugs by a pharmacy office through an official prescription, and for hospital-based drugs, including".

Of course, if you have a private prescription, it's a different matter entirely - although having bought plenty of meds over the counter in Spain with no prescription and only been charged the standard price (Omerprazole's a good example, since there doesn't appear to be any discount with a social security prescription anyway, at least in Andalucia), I still believe that any pharmacy that charges any other price than that laid down in the sistema de precios de referencia is just taking the pi55. So a suggestion for John: next time you think you're paying too much, ask for your famous complaints form and see if the price comes down!!

I spoke to my usual pharmacist again today.

He said this time, that the price of medications supplied on prescriptions in Spain is controlled and that my son should make a complaint as he was charged about 25 euros over the controlled price.

Pity he did not say that when we first asked !

Not one to say I told you so....so I won't   

The EHIC may well become a thing of the past for most Brits post Brexit. Travel insurance will then become an essential for European travel.

The European Commission is at this stage only prepared to agree that UK citizens living in the EU at the time of separation and registered as such should keep access to their EHIC.

The Commission and the UK have agreed this limited retention of the EHIC as part of discussions about citizens’ rights. UK requests to go further have been rebuffed so far.

Unless the British government make some concessions on EU legal jurisdiction for EU citizens living in UK the position is unlikely to change.

Why would that happen Micky as the EHIC card, correct me if I am wrong, has been nothing to do with the EU anyway, they had nothing to do with it.

Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament was to do with the introduction of the EHIC so I can't see where it had nothing to do with the EU.

However, I'm not sure if the EHIC Is going to be the guaranteed one. This article states pensioners living in the EU will have their healthcare paid for (if it all gets agreed in the end, of course) but other articles I have read seem to confuse the EHIC with resident rights.

Pretty sure it will all come out in the wash.

Britain is leaving the EU. All agreements and treaty obligations have to be re-negotiated by the UK with the EU on the basis it will be a seperate nation in future. That includes the EHIC concession for EU citizens healthcare along with a long list of other matters they seem to be at odds with..