Registering with a Health Centre

[JohnBoy]

I am sure that this will have been answered before but rules change with time so I would like to know the current situation.

I am retired and currently living in PT but have not broken my ties with the UK. i.e. I still draw my pension in the UK which is paid into my UK bank account and I still pay UK Income Tax. I have needed medical treatment a couple of times and this has been provided at Urgencias under my UK EHIC. I have an opportunity to join an excellent private health scheme very cheaply but it is a requirement that I register with a health centre first.

At this moment I have not moved everything over to PT as I am not sure if I will be staying here or not and do not want the hassle of changing everything over twice. If I register with my local health centre what would the implications be back in the UK? Is my doctor contacted? Do the PT authorities contact the UK? Will it affect my pension/income tax?

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

[canoeman]

If you want to Register with Health Service here then you must be a Registered Resident here.

Advice/Law same thing really from HMFO you can now only holiday in Portugal for 3 months not 6, which mirrors EU Residency Laws.

Latest information on Residency
You must register your Residence if your stay is 3+ months and should be done within 30 days of the 3 months, or before if your move is intended to be permanent.

You should also be aware that you would be considered a Resident if you spend 183 days cumulative or not in any 12 month period, and could be considered a tax Resident if you own a property here at 31st December and Financas decide it is your primary home whether you spend 183 days cumalitive or not.

Rights to "free" UK NHS treatment is based on being a UK Resident, and misuse of EHIC and UK NHS can be charged to you.
Is your Dr. or NHS contacted I don't believe directly unless you reguire your medical file, but indirectly then yes as UK pays for EHIC treatment.

If your a Resident here then you de- register with your UK Doctors surgery and you should not use your UK EHIC for treatment. The exception to this is if your a Resident here and a UK Pensioner then UK supplies your EHIC for treatment in UK & EU.

If your a Resident here you require a Portuguese issued EHIC card for treatment in UK or EU (unless as above)


UK Pension and tax, it is generally better to declare here as tax if any on pension is lower, you can then claim any Portuguese tax allowances on insurance, health care etc, unless of course it's a UK Public pension where tax if any must be paid in UK but should still be declared here.
You can have UK Pension paid where you want and because it's EU you still get any increases.

Registering is relatively easy especially as your a UK Pensioner, you get form S1 from Overseas Pensions Newcastle, Register your Residence here, take form to your Regional Social Security Centre, they supply a Portuguese Social Security number, take Passport, SS number, Residence Certificate and register with your local Centre de Saude, UK then sends a form to issue a new EHIC card and old one should be returned.
It's better to do it in that order as SS number is an issue with some Centers.

Just a final note a lot of these new "private health schemes" are discount schemes for health services and not traditional health insurance, so check

[JohnBoy]

Thank you Canoeman for your very comprehensive reply.

I did register for Residence within the 3 month deadline so at least got that right. Fortunately I do not own a property here so do not have that problem to worry about.

Your comments regarding income tax are very interesting as I was under the impression that paying tax on my pension here put me at a disadvantage. Currently my personal allowance is set against the state pension leaving me paying tax on my private pension. Are your comments on claiming allowance against tax for insurance, health care, etc. still valid? I thought that as part of Troika this had now been disallowed.

Thanks for the heads up on private health schemes. I am lucky in that I am eligible to join a scheme operated by the banks for the benefit of their staff but first I have to register at the health centre.

Thanks again for your advice.

[canoeman]

Depends on the amount of your pension but it's worth checking out. The figure that tax starts at varies on amount, married status etc so although similar to UK's Personal Allowance is different, maybe use UK's PA against one and get the other tax free here

There's been some alteration to what can be offset but not aware that you cannot still claim for % for healthcare, optics, dental some insurances

[JohnBoy]

My thoughts exactly Canoeman.

I am not sure about the allowances either but will check with my tax advisor when he returns from his hols and get back to you with a definitive answer.