One stop shop for expats in Spain

Healthcare
 

The state health system in Spain
State healthcare is free of charge to anyone living and working in Spain.
As an expat, you are entitled to free state healthcare if you are:
•    resident in Spain and work in employment or self-employment and pay social security contributions,
•    resident in Spain and receiving certain state benefits,
•    resident in Spain and recently divorced or separated from a partner registered with social security,
•    a child resident in Spain,
•    a pregnant woman who is resident in Spain,
•    under 26 and studying in Spain,
•    a state pensioner, or
•    staying temporarily in Spain and have an EHIC card (see below).

If you don’t have the right to state healthcare you have to organise private health cover. If you have been registered on the padrón at your town hall for a year, the Spanish government has a state insurance scheme (convenio especial) with a basic monthly fee. This is administered by the authorities in each autonomous region.

The state system is funded by social security contributions, with each region of Spain taking individual responsibility for a health budget allocated by central government.

www.tpci.es