Spain goes to Brussels for cash to pay medical care

Health authorities claim British and other EU pensioners are placing undue pressure on the health system and Spain’s health minister Elena Salgado has gone to the EU to demand more cash to pay the health bills for the increasing number of expats in Spain.

A ministry spokesman said the reciprocal agreement which exists between most European countries to cover health bills is insufficient in the face of a steadily growing population in Spain of elderly people from the UK, Germany, Holland and Scandinavia, many of whom fail to subscribe to the E121 system, whereby part of the costs can be reclaimed from their country of origin.

According to Age Concern around one million Britons own property in Spain and a high percentage of these are retired citizens. But while 225,000 are registered to vote in municipal elections, only 49,436 of them have applied for the E121 form, which acts as health cover for those people not contributing into the social security administration.A spokesman from Age Concern says that they deal with around 12,000 elderly British people in Spain and estimates that one in eight of them is seriously ill or even destitute and needing constant care.

The Spanish health authorities are expecting some form of compensation from their British counterparts. They say that the cost of looking after the expat population here works out at an additional 58 million euros (£40m) every year and are demanding that this money be refunded by the British government.Meanwhile, the UK work and pensions department insists that their staff do everything in their power to inform emigrants on the correct procedures of subscribing to the health system to ensure they are legally entitled to medical attention in their new countries.

Even so, many of the new settlers are still ignorant of the laws and regulations and continue to inadvertently take advantage of the Spanish health system by not presenting the correct SIP health card (if they are paying Seguridad Social contributions), the E121 form (for pensioners who are resident in Spain) or the EIH card, formerly the E111 (for visitors spending up to three months in the country).

For more information on the correct procedure for British citizens to obtain medical attention in Spain contact The Pensions Service, Tyneview Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE98 1BA.

SIGN ON THE PADRÓN: It is most important for residents to sign on the padrón at their local town hall; it is obligatory and necessary to receive a SIPS card. Signing the padrón costs nothing and helps municipal finances and essential services which are regulated by population figures.

Original Source: Costa Blanca News

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