Spain Charges Healthcare for Expats

Spain is taking steps to try to prevent foreign nationals from exploiting their healthcare system, which is leading to undue pressure on hospitals and doctors alike.

Most Spanish provinces have now introduced new health rules whereby expatriates below retirement age (men under 65 and women under 60) and not registered as  being employed, would no longer be able to access free medical care.

Up until recently it has been up to the doctor to decide what medical treatment is an emergency and what isn’t because emergency care is free, but the doctors are now hitting out at foreign ‘freeloaders’.

There are many, particularly Britons, who own homes in the UK and Spain and arrange trips back and forth according to where they may be able to get cheaper medical treatment or even jump the waiting queue. With a European Health Insurance Card, which is designed for emergencies for holiday makers, they regularly access the health care system under false pretences.

Most regions in Spain now levy a healthcare tax of around 90 Euros/month per person to cover the costs of medical care. One a person reaches retirement age, they no longer have to pay the tax.