NEW PADRON REQUIRED TO RETAIN HEALTH COVER ????

Hi,

has anyone heard of this.

my friend lives in a small village in formentera del segura.

she said there is notices around the village stating that to

retain your health cover, social security ect you have to go

to the town hall to get a new padron before the 24th august.

she also said the notices are in english.

I live in the murcia area and no one down here has heard of

this supposed new rule.

can anyone shed any light on this.!!!!

 the simple answer to this is to get to the office before 24 August and check if you have to, and if so, while there renew your padron, so take all your documents with you to prove your entitlement just in case!

Yes a few days before we left to come back to UK we went and renewed the SIP cards amd the receptionist gave us a new one but said we had to renew our padron, which we had to take back to the medial centre which we did not get time to do. So I am not sure what happens now!  Our SIP card runs out at the end of September.

But it is obviously  more important for the residents so best to get to the town hall  and renew padrons!

Patricia

 shame you couldnt make time to get there, knowing any bureaucracy i expect they will replace it with something that you need to jump through, likely at a higher position, and most likely burning firecly! Good luck! regards, Rob

The notices are up in Formenters del Segura in Alicante province. As you live in Murcia area it should not be a problem for you as different rules often apply in different regions.

We also live in Murcia and could not get our health cards until we were  UK state pensioners , totally different from Alicante region.

Jean

I believe Alicante region withdrew free healthcare for early retirees under 65 in 2008. They offered access to the system on payment of 270€ per quarter.

In the same way that payments for prescriptions are being handled differently in regions, I suppose the new rules on Healthcare coming in on 1st September will throw up regional variations.

I did not realise that the prescription charges changes  from region to region, I just thought it was a standard charge for everyone. Well you live and learn. 

We always bring our medication with us. it was just the SIP card I was concerned about not that we have ever used it in 7 years but you never know.  

Patricia 

I did not realise that Sip cards were issued to non residents.

Here in Murcia it is necessary to be registered as resident to get a tarjeta de sanidad.

It simply proves the differences between regions.

I think the prescription charges are the same ( 10% of cost) but the method of reclaiming any  payments over the monthly limits  differs.

Not sure how it works here in Murcia as have only to pay 4Euros per month for OH heart medications.

Jean

I thought the SIP cards now are issued by the country where one made their National Health payments.  

I am the non EU, dependant of my retired UK husband.  We live in Spain.  Our cards were issued in UK.  We are both registered on the Spanish health system.

re prescriptions. Living in Andalusia, and making our tax returns here, which  means charges are automatically cut off when we have paid 8 euros in a month.

 I think elaineg is getting the SIP and EHIC cards mixed up.  EHIC are issued by UK and are for emergency use in the country you are visiting.  The bill then goes back to the UK for any treatment.

SIP cards, which are not Spanish wide as each region has a different system, are issued by the region.  You can (or could) get a temporary SIP card in the Valencia region which could be renewed up to 4 times (3 months each time) which is used in conjuction with the EHIC and, again, the bill then goes back to UK.  The permanent SIP cards are only issued to those who have signed on the register and are here permanently.  It covers all aspects of health care and is available on production of the S1 from Newcastle only.  Either permanent for those who are retired or up to a certain length of time if you are under retirement age and depends on the NI contributions in UK over the last 3 years.  One person in the household who qualifies for a SIP card also covers the rest of the household.  A contribution of about £3,500 is paid annually by the UK to Spain to cover costs.  

elaineg, you wouldn't have got the actual health cards issued by UK but you would have had the S1 and the EHIC issued by them.  Once the S1 is on the system, you will given a social security number and a health card to enable you to register at a doctors.  The temporary SIP cards and EHIC will not entitle you to free prescriptions, only the S1allows that.  

Anyone paying for prescriptions whilst visiting Spain can claim the cost back from the UK when returning.  And, yes, each region has a different system if you are a pensioner.  In the Valencia region, if you have completed a tax return, the payment stops at your capped limit (€8 a month depending on your income).  If you haven't completed a tax return then you have to pay the 10% and then claim anything over the €8 back.  

bobaol- i thought that if you didn't pay income tax or make a tax declaration in Spain, you were not entitled to claim anything back over the capped amounnt, and indeed, why should you be able to, in  fact shouldn't someone who is not fiscally resident be made to pay the entire cost? if we are to be treated like Spanish nationals, then surely all Spanish nationals are fiscally resident?

with this cap on the amount pensioners pay, how at the moment does it automatically stop at 8 euros?. For a start, the pharmacist doesn't know the income, prescriptions may be collected at different times from different chemists, so how does that work. My husband ( fiscally resident) has several expensive prescriptions, 10% of these is well over the cap-no-one has said stop-you're over the limit. The method of claiming back overpaid amounts is a nightmare.

Surely the only way it is going to work is when the new medical cards have the fiscal information incorporated in them.Hopefully those not fiscally residents will have to cough up for the lot!

 The padron thing is just a money making exercise, why should you keep having to renew it for different things?

 from camposol

bobaol- i thought that if you didn't pay income tax or make a tax declaration in Spain, you were not entitled to claim anything back over the capped amounnt, and indeed, why should you be able to, in  fact shouldn't someone who is not fiscally resident be made to pay the entire cost? if we are to be treated like Spanish nationals, then surely all Spanish nationals are fiscally resident? I meant those who are residents but haven't been here long enough to make a return yet.  If you have a temporary health card, any prescription written by a doctor will incur a charge of up to 50% of the cost of the prescription unless the S1 has been registered.

At the moment does it automatically stop at 8 euros?. For a start, the pharmacist doesn't know the income, prescriptions may be collected at different times from different chemists, so how does that work. My husband ( fiscally resident) has several expensive prescriptions, 10% of these is well over the cap-no-one has said stop-you're over the limit. The method of claiming back overpaid amounts is a nightmare.

Sorry but Big Brother has arrived.  Your medical records are linked to the Social Security numbers which also give the pharmacy the level of earnings and the amount you have to pay.  I agree, for those in the Valencian Community the method of claiming back is very complicated and means a couple of trips plus a wait of about 3 months.    

Surely the only way it is going to work is when the new medical cards have the fiscal information incorporated in them.Hopefully those not fiscally residents will have to cough up for the lot! See above, the computer record your pharmacist brings up, whilst not actually telling them how much you earn, will tell them what level it is to be capped at.  This is why it works so well in Andalucia.  And why our pharmacist was able to tell us that we could claim back anything over €8 due to our earnings as we made our first Spanish tax return this year.

 The padron thing is just a money making exercise, why should you keep having to renew it for different things?

"Sorry but Big Brother has arrived.  Your medical records are linked to the Social Security numbers which also give the pharmacy the level of earnings and the amount you have to pay"

Unfortunately here in Murcia we aren't ! In fact the social security had no record that we  had been in receipt of healthcare for the last 10 years.We also have no 'chips' in our cards,  It's not much better in the Uk either. When I rang the NHS recently it took them 1,1/2hours to actually find me in the system.The inland revenue wasn't much better either.

 Bobaol- i make the annual tax declaration and return. My income is less than 18000 euros. yet I paid over 8 euros, there was no automatic stop.The amount to pay was stated on the bottom of each prescription and added up to 19 euros. As yet, pharmacies do not have this fisal information- it will appear in the future on the new medical cards.

What I would also like to know is: When someone has a crown pension which is liable to tax in income only, this is exempted from  the total income declared in Spain, so someone with a crown pension at 12000 a year and other pensions at 8000 a year, taxable in Spain, will be capped at 8 euros. when in fact they have an income of 20000 euros, which is capped at 18 euros!

Also how many ex pats have been told they can have an income of 22000 euros before tax-this only applies in certain circumstances, and certainly no to ex pat retirees, yet I have read this misleading info several times.

In Andalucía there is a link, which in my case works, 8 euros p.m. max.

 My profile says I'm in Ciudad Quesada which is in Alicante province.  Yes, they are linked as the pharmacist showed me that I would be capped at 8 euros and this takes into account the fact we did our first tax return this year.  Unfortunately, it seems only Andalucia has got its finger out and linked this up.  In this area we continue to pay even though it's above the cap but then claim it back.  And the public service pension is not taken into account as ours is the 8 euro cap but would be 18 if they took that into account.

Claiming it back is quite an ordeal as this shows

Claiming Prescription Charges

'And the public service pension is not taken into account as ours is the 8 euro cap but would be 18 if they took that into account.'

Isn't it great when something works in your favour and is legal!  (Sorry camposol). 

 Camposol ^ - I 'think' even when you are employed by an employer you still have to do your annual tax return yourself (I did anyway)..

Re the Padron Q... This sounds quite possible. That way the local town hall get money from the govt for each legal resident and can keep some cash coming in. 

If one is a legal resident, then this should just be a normal way of doing things.

I know the padron is ususally best to be updated every year or so and you definately need one less than 3 months old if buying a car. 

The padron is great to get discounts on educational prorgrammes that are funded by the Town Hall.