03 Jul 2012 7:29 PM:
Slightly off topic, but an interesting point comes to mind about all this.
Those who retire early to Spain and have a few years to go before their retirement are advised to take out private health cover, as even an S1 will only cover them until it runs out, leaving a gap between having state health care paid for by the UK and the time when, as a state pensioner, they can claim state health care in Spain.
However, we then have this proposed legislation:
http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/06/14/inenglish/1339677237_391907.html (El Pais in English - Ministry Backtracks On Healthcare Entitlement Restrictions.
If this goes through, those residents earning under 100k a year (as declared on their tax returns) will now have access to state health care.
And this begs a question.
Someone under state pension age will need to take out private health cover to sign on the foreigners register, or show an S1 (and thus prove they will not be a burden on the state). And they will they need to keep paying for this private health cover until their first tax returns have been submitted and verified.
In theory, once a person has proved their income and health care coverage to apply for residencia (or in the case of EU citizens, to sign on the foreigners register), and has submitted a tax return which shows they earn less than 100k per year, they could (in theory of course) recieve state health care, thus negating their need for private health insurance.
Anything wrong with that theory?
It was just a testing out an idea I think some may have considered.
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