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Hi there
In the Uk I have an exemption card for my prescriptions as I am a diabetic. My question is does the Spanish healthcare system cater for patients in the same way or will I have to pay for all my prescriptons. Any imput would be gratefull recieved.
Thanks
Andy g
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My husband is also Diabetic so I've always been interested in any discussions about this.
Others have stated that you have to pay for your own prescriptions but if you are registered and a pensioner then they are free. A lot of the medication over in Spain is cheaper to buy over the counter anyway although I think they are tightening up on this and insisting that you have a prescription.
Anyone visiting Spain should take the paper guide for any medication you're taking, if you then missplace your pills etc the farmacia may be able to repace it with the Spanish version.
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Hi Andy - i don't know about exemptions but the cost of prescriptions is amazing - I paid 80 cents for two items last week - it would have cost £17 in the UK!!
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Claire
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I take Plendl (Felodipine) for high BP & that particular one is a lot more in Spain than buying on prescription in the UK (£7.10 for 56 tablets).
I went into the Quesada chemist a few trips ago to show them the box & enquire. I've lost the info but I recall drawing breath at the time with shock. As my doc will only give me 2 months supply at a time I've had to resort to getting prescriptions filed in the UK a couple of weeks before usual to get a few put by.
However, I recently had a really bad attack of muscle spasms a few days before flying to Spain & the meds (anti inflamms) my UK doc gave me were not good enough. They got me upright but I was still in great discomfort. Two friends told me they took a good one which worked for them so I tried a couple of days of theirs & it was wonderful to be free of pain. At the pharmacy this one Diclofenac 50mg was only 2.60€ for 40, much cheaper than on prescription here even if doc gave me 100.
Just depends what you are taking.
Edited to add : Sorry, Andy, I realise I didn't answer your question. 
This message was last edited by morerosado on 6/6/2008.
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I recently visited the GP and because I've saved up my ailments ended up paying £35 at the local chemist. I also take medication for high BP also for cholesterol and I discovered they will now only give one month's supply on prescription - Practice Policy. So that's not only going to cost me £14+ each month but be an absolute nuisance getting enough to last through holidays etc as always forget until the last minute.
Might enquire about costs when I'm over next week - what do they need the box or the actual presciption? My local pharmacist suggested a prepayment card would be cheaper and I wondered if anyone else had similar issues. Roll on being a pensioner!! Either that or move back to Wales (if only!).
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Sonia, not Practice Policy but government policy, I'm afraid. We used to issue 3 months worth so patients would only pay 4 times a year. This has been clamped down on and we have been forced (yes, that is the correct word) to reduce this to one month supply or money will be taken off us to pay the difference in the drugs budget. As we were almost 200 grand over budget last year, this would be a substantial loss to practice income. Our docs still give 2 months if someone is going on holiday but we have been instructed by the PCT to stop this unless going on holiday to somewhere where medication is inaccessible (they actually quote the foothills of the Himalayas or the Sahara desert, would you believe). Our docs are against it but this has been forced on surgeries. Anyone on regular medication who pays for prescriptions should think about pre-paying for them. Ask at your GP for a form and it will cost you £102.50 a year for all prescriptions. As prescription costs are now £7.10 for each medication, that will cost something like £85 a year per item so if you have two repeats or more on a regular basis you will save. The PCT claim this is to stop people hoarding the pills and there are some horror stories of years and years supply found in some houses when the patient eventually passes on. I reckon it's to help the people in Wales, and Scotland in the future, to get all theirs for nothing.
Link is here http://www.ppa.org.uk/ppa/ppc_intro.htm
Also getting mixed signals on the SIP card in the Valencia province. Some (including Coastrider) are saying it is going to be withdrawn completely. Others say that if you take out residencia and are registered on the Padron you will still get it but it will be a permanent one straight away as opposed to the temporary ones you get at the moment. I hope to clear this up when I go over at the end of June. If one of the couple is a female and 60 or over, you can still get the SIP card for the male even if he is under the retirement age of 65. I don't want to make comments on rumours and will contact my person in the know in a few weeks time.
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Bobaol
Thanks for the information. I suspected it was a PCT directive as I work in mental health in the same borough and they're squeezing us too. Trying to reduce length stay, type of medication etc. Mental health is very much the poor relation in healthcare. But when they (PCT) have any events there appears to be no expense spared. Ah the joys of the NHS!
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Yes, I know More. But this was "as we were going to press" and I have heard from someone over there that they have just renewed their SIP card. They were told at the surgery the removal would only be for those without residency but the receptionist wasn't too sure. It will be a shame if they go but I will be able to get on my wife's card as she will be 60 when we move over (child groom, me - the missus was a cradle snatcher).
Don't know either way if this will apply all round and, like lots of things in Spain, rumours abound! As others have posted, it still depends on which town hall/foreign office/police station you go to on what is required for residency or the padron, let alone the health entitlement. I also feel the surgery in Quesada would find it very difficult to continue if expats couldn't get state treatment as some 70% of residents there are foreign (i.e. us). My contact there (who knows all about these things) is on holiday at the moment but hope to find the definitive answer at the end of the month.
Also seems strange that no one has mentioned removal in Catalonia and free health care is still being promised in Murcia. If you're there and you're paying taxes (council, local rates, or whatever) you should be entitled to something.
It has also been posted, very authoritively, on this site that wealth tax has ended. I got a letter from my solicitors last week that states it hasn't. They have approached the tax office at Alicante regarding this and they have replied that they are waiting for instructions from Madrid but that wealth tax (patrimonio) will continue.
The key sentence is "The Alicante tax office has informed us that, as yet, no official government pronouncement has been made that Wealth Tax for non-residents has been abolished. Discussions must first take place between Central and Regional governments as this tax benefits the region where it is collected. After discussion, the tax may be modified, substituted or indeed abolished".
It also says that even if there is a zero charge, the Tax authorities will still require annual information about assets as well as an Income Tax declaration.
So don't all run out and buy expensive health insurance policies for the time being.
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HI Andygman
My husband is also a diabetic. If it turns out that you are not entitled to a social security card because of where you live and/or your age/ residency status, insulin and test strips are VERY expensive: Humalog 25 €52 per box, test strips €45. WIth a social security card based on age over 65 (or 60 for women) prescriptions are free.
Don't know where you are, but In Andalucia there is no social security card for resident men under 65 unless they have wives over 60 in which case they can get one with their E121. If under this you should be able to get a E106 which will last for 2 years. So if wife hits 60 or you hit 65 before that runs out then you would be ok, whereever you are. Nothing at all for non-residents in Andalucia except emergency cover with the new card which replaced the E111, so definitely no insulin etc on prescription.
We went through umpteen hoops over this. If you are in Andalucia and want to hear more send me a pm
Good luck
Jane
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www.fincalaserenidad.com
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Have just received this email
Volume II - Number 240 - Anno VII
SATURDAY, JUNE 7, 2008
http://www.valencialife.net
The Valencia Life Network News is a bulletin of information about the Valencian Community that is published every morning except Mondays and read by subscribers on four continents. Any comments or suggestions or changes to EMail addresses are most welcome, as well as are new subscribers: publisher@valencialife.net.
A STATEMENT FROM THE BRITISH EMBASSY
The Valencian Government has announced the replacement of the Circular 1/2002 with a new law - the Ley de Aseguramiento Sanitario - that came into effect as from June 5. The Circular 1/2002 scheme allowed people with no entitlement to health care to access the system free of charge, whilst the new law aims to regulate and control free access to the Valencian Health Care system. The people that will be most affected by this measure are British Nationals who do not have access to the State health system through an E121 or E106, or who do not pay contributions to the Spanish Social Security system. These are mainly early retirees who do not work in Spain and who accessed the system through a legislation letter issued by the Health Service in the UK. The new measures mean in effect that those in possession of a valid card will not have their entitlements removed, but when the card expires, cover cannot be renewed, and no new applicants will be accepted onto the scheme. Those who are in this situation and do not have entitlements to health care through E121, E106 or the Spanish Health system should consider taking out some form of private insurance. More information is available online at www.dh.gov.uk
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Semi, I've posted this twice, I believe, in here a few posts ago & in >>> Valencian Health Cards to go !!!! Not in the same format I know. Your post is from the horses mouth.  If I could get into the link I could read it.  Keeps saying it's not available.
This message was last edited by morerosado on 6/7/2008.
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Thank you all for your posts. Is there anyone in the Cantabria region and how have they got on.
andy g
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Some of the links I received took me to the actual act which was in Spanish so I just copied this version and edited it to read like a word document. I didn't try to access any of the links before I copied it.
I haven't read the on-line papers yet but I'm surprised that I haven't read anything about this on any other forum.
I'm sure a lot of people will be effected by this.
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Just been looking on http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/index.htm Can't find anything & just managed to get into http://www.valencialife.net/ Couldn't for a while.
Says it costs 50€ for a years subscription !!
Valencialife NewsLetter - One YEAR
>In English >Fast Full Colour >Breaking News & Issues >Cultural & Political >Views Regional Reports >Emergency Reports >National & International >Direct to Your Desktop
Price: €50.00
This message was last edited by morerosado on 6/7/2008.
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Just read Round Town News on line and it's front page news so at least the message is getting through.
They say it's because UK have not been reimbursing them for work carried out, I suppose that's because we're too busy paying for all our own Euro visitors who are using NHS.
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