[Overandout]

Here you go:

Insured status is granted to people in any of the following circumstances:

• A worker employed by another person or a self-employed worker, affiliated and registered or in a situation similar to registered.
  A pensioner in the Social Security system.
• A recipient of any other periodic Social Security benefit, including unemployment benefit or allowance.
• An unemployed person who has exhausted unemployment benefits and others of a similar nature, does not have insured status on any other grounds and resides in Spain.
• Individuals who do not have mandatory health insurance by some other means and who are in certain situations.
• Children in state care.

From here:

Seguridad Social: Useful Information

HOME. Apartados y Secciones destacables del portal web.

www.seg-social.es

Sometime the links to the English versions don't work...

 

[Robert25]

Thanks for that overandout.

Would I fall into one of the following categories then?

Thanks

 

[Overandout]

I don't know enough about your personal circumstances but most people in your situation would be the first of the two you copied. But I think that you have to remain registered at the INEM as unemployed to be considered as "insured".

The second group is basically for refugees, who for obvious reasons can't have private policies, nor contribute to the SS.

 

[Robert25]

I have never registered as unemployed so that may be why. To be honest, I can't remember the last time I went to the doctors and used my health card for a doctor's appointment (it has to be 15+ years) but I used my health card to get my covid vaccines and a couple of years ago I popped into the doctor's reception to get a printout of my covid passport. The lady at the reception mentioned that I was not active on the system anymore (it said passiva, not activa). I asked why and she asked if I was working. When I said no, she said that was why but didn't elaborate further. As I have recently turned 50, it is on my mind that I need to sort this out so I am planning on going in to speak to them. I am just worried that they will fob me off again and not want to deal with me (hence my thread today). I will have the website link handy (in Spanish) when I go. Has anyone else been in a similar situation to me? If so, is there anything else I should take or say that could help me?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[Overandout]

I'm pretty sure that if your're no longer working but not registered as unemployed then you are indeed "out of the system", i.e. not insured.

 

[Robert25]

Ok, makes sense. I didn't register as unemployed at the time as I did not want to claim unemployment benefit from the state. I didn't realise that not registering as unemployed would affect my status. I'll have to go into the doctor's office and see what my options are. If I find out any valuable information then I'll report it back on this thread for the benefit of others in a similar situation to me.

Thanks "overandout" for your time

 

[1kaipa]

Ok, makes sense. I didn't register as unemployed at the time as I did not want to claim unemployment benefit from the state. I didn't realise that not registering as unemployed would affect my status. I'll have to go into the doctor's office and see what my options are. If I find out any valuable information then I'll report it back on this thread for the benefit of others in a similar situation to me.

Thanks "overandout" for your time

Let us know the outcome as this is the "grey area" that often gets argued about here and no one seems to have any real experience to back things up. In theory if you were a resident in Spain before 2012 you should be getting state health care free irrespective of employment. Alternatively as someone who has permanent residence and does not qualify for NHS healthcare you should get it ( according to UK gov website). But do let us know the outcome as then we will actually have some real information.

 

[Overandout]

Let us know the outcome as this is the "grey area" that often gets argued about here and no one seems to have any real experience to back things up. In theory if you were a resident in Spain before 2012 you should be getting state health care free irrespective of employment. Alternatively as someone who has permanent residence and does not qualify for NHS healthcare you should get it ( according to UK gov website). But do let us know the outcome as then we will actually have some real information.

Robert25 is not asking about "free" healthcare on the basis of permanent residence status which is the grey area covered by this thread. He is asking if the fact he worked and contributed gives him the right, which I hope to have helped with (although I can't find any formal site which says that he must be registered as unemployed to access the system, only unofficial sites which I won't refer to out of principle).

However, the idea that foreigners who moved to Spain before 2012 can access the system for ever, regardless of other status is an interesting one. I for sure didn't have to provide any evidence of private health care to get my first TIE, but the Social Security page doesn't directly refer to this as a situation to be considered as an insured person.

¿Does anyone have any link or document which supports this idea?

 

[1kaipa]

Robert25 is not asking about "free" healthcare on the basis of permanent residence status which is the grey area covered by this thread. He is asking if the fact he worked and contributed gives him the right, which I hope to have helped with (although I can't find any formal site which says that he must be registered as unemployed to access the system, only unofficial sites which I won't refer to out of principle).

However, the idea that foreigners who moved to Spain before 2012 can access the system for ever, regardless of other status is an interesting one. I for sure didn't have to provide any evidence of private health care to get my first TIE, but the Social Security page doesn't directly refer to this as a situation to be considered as an insured person.

¿Does anyone have any link or document which supports this idea?

I am pretty sure that having worked and then stopped doesn't guarantee healthcare. In fact, I thought it stopped after 3 months and the OP seems to confirm that is what has happened.You will get it if you register as unemployed though. The 5 year one is the thing we are always trying to confirm and therefore they might get it under that rule if it really exits. The 2012 ruling seems the most likely though. Interesting to find out.

 

[RyanBreh]

Hi, sorry to bump an old thread, but having read through it all I'm still a little confused so if anyone could advise me on my personal issue, that would be so much appreciated!

My mother is Irish and got her residencia in spain in 2011, she came here to retire although is still a year off the pension age - recently she has developed health problems and the costs of all the stays in hospital are getting quite strenuous. Upon paying the latest set of costs the woman from the finance section, advised me to contact the Irish embassy to apply for an S1 medical which proved fruitless, but the embassy did tell us that because my mum doesn't receive and financial help from any outside source that she would be eligible to join the Spanish healthcare system. She went to the local town hall to try and get some answers but her Spanish isn't the best and came out unsure as to whether the interaction was successful or not. If anyone could help clear up what needs to be done I'd be eternally grateful

Thanks

 

[1kaipa]

Hi, sorry to bump an old thread, but having read through it all I'm still a little confused so if anyone could advise me on my personal issue, that would be so much appreciated!

My mother is Irish and got her residencia in spain in 2011, she came here to retire although is still a year off the pension age - recently she has developed health problems and the costs of all the stays in hospital are getting quite strenuous. Upon paying the latest set of costs the woman from the finance section, advised me to contact the Irish embassy to apply for an S1 medical which proved fruitless, but the embassy did tell us that because my mum doesn't receive and financial help from any outside source that she would be eligible to join the Spanish healthcare system. She went to the local town hall to try and get some answers but her Spanish isn't the best and came out unsure as to whether the interaction was successful or not. If anyone could help clear up what needs to be done I'd be eternally grateful

Thanks

If she is paying for medical care treatment then that indicates she has never had private healthcare nor been on the state system. Begs the question why not? However the good news is that if she was legally registered as a Spanish resident ( probably not if she has no healthcare) before 2012 she should be entitled to free state healthcare. Obviously though she needs to prove that by showing she was registered or making at least tax declarations.

 

[RyanBreh]

Thanks for the response kaipa, honestly I don't know why she never looked into it, she had Kaizer health insurance for a year or two but that didnt seem to cover the area she was in so she cancelled.

I think she just didn't imagine a situation like this would happen before she became of pension age, thanks again for the response.

 

[Overandout]

If she is paying for medical care treatment then that indicates she has never had private healthcare nor been on the state system. Begs the question why not? However the good news is that if she was legally registered as a Spanish resident ( probably not if she has no healthcare) before 2012 she should be entitled to free state healthcare. Obviously though she needs to prove that by showing she was registered or making at least tax declarations.

Is it actually the case that a person legally resident in Spain prior to 2012 is entitled to free health care?

The page I linked to above seems to list all ways to be considered as an "asegurado" or "beneficiario" and I'm not seeing this being listed, unless it falls under the third point of the condition copied below, based on the fact that the TIE which would have been issued prior to 2012 would not have had mandatory health care by other means as a condition for its issue?

Individuals not covered by the preceding point or by article 3 of R.D. 1192/2012, of 3 August, who do not have mandatory health insurance by some other means and who are in any of the following situations:

• Having Spanish nationality and residing in Spanish territory.
• Being nationals of a member State of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland and being registered on the Central Register of Foreign Citizens.
• Being nationals of a country other than those mentioned above, or stateless, and having authorisation to reside in Spanish terrritory, for as long as that authorisation is valid in accordance with the terms provided for in its specific regulations.

If this logic works, it has made me think that the claim on some British websites that "permanent residency = free health care" would have been true until five years after 2012 (2017) because you could have argued that when you became resident you did not have to have private health care, but nowadays you of course can have permanent residency without having been legally resident before 2012 (therefore not having private coverage would not be "in accordance with the terms provided for in its specific regulations") so the ststement is no longer true.
Maybe this is where all this confusion arose?

 

[xabiaxica]

Is it actually the case that a person legally resident in Spain prior to 2012 is entitled to free health care?

The page I linked to above seems to list all ways to be considered as an "asegurado" or "beneficiario" and I'm not seeing this being listed, unless it falls under the third point of the condition copied below, based on the fact that the TIE which would have been issued prior to 2012 would not have had mandatory health care by other means as a condition for its issue?

Individuals not covered by the preceding point or by article 3 of R.D. 1192/2012, of 3 August, who do not have mandatory health insurance by some other means and who are in any of the following situations:

• Having Spanish nationality and residing in Spanish territory.
• Being nationals of a member State of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland and being registered on the Central Register of Foreign Citizens.
• Being nationals of a country other than those mentioned above, or stateless, and having authorisation to reside in Spanish terrritory, for as long as that authorisation is valid in accordance with the terms provided for in its specific regulations.

If this logic works, it has made me think that the claim on some British websites that "permanent residency = free health care" would have been true until five years after 2012 (2017) because you could have argued that when you became resident you did not have to have private health care, but nowadays you of course can have permanent residency without having been legally resident before 2012 (therefore not having private coverage would not be "in accordance with the terms provided for in its specific regulations") so the ststement is no longer true.
Maybe this is where all this confusion arose?

In I think October 2012 there was a change in the law which meant that all Spanish nationals became entitled to free healthcare, which wasn't previously they case.

The entitlement was also given to foreigners legally registered as resident before April 24 of that year.

It was indeed about 5 years later that the British consulate began to state that after 5 years legal residency we were entitled to free healthcare. I've often suggested that that was no coincidence.

 

[MataMata]

It was subsequently withdrawn not long after though and it's stretching credibility beyond breaking point to suppose that 12 years on someone could simply pop up and say "Hey, I was here before April 2012 so give me free health care please" and not been told to ****** off!

 

[1kaipa]

It was subsequently withdrawn not long after though and it's stretching credibility beyond breaking point to suppose that 12 years on someone could simply pop up and say "Hey, I was here before April 2012 so give me free health care please" and not been told to ** off!

You definitely have free healthcare if you were registered before 2012. I have a number of friends who were here in 1999 and they all have free healthcare when they aren't working. When was it withdrawn? Don't you mean the universal health care act that Sanchez introduced immediately they got into power the n was never approved but the 2012 law was introduced by PP before that.

 

[DancingUnicorn]

I plan to immigrate to Spain. I am disabled and do not work. I will be bringing money into the Spanish economy however because I have income from other sources. Will I qualify for Spanish health coverage after five years? Or is that only for working people?

 

[Overandout]

There is no 5 year entitlement forseen in any Spanish law or regulation on Social Security coverage as far as we know.

You are either considered as being an insured person due to your contributions (by working, by reciprocal agreements with other governments or by special "convenio") or you are not, in which case you would need full private cover.

 

[1kaipa]

The above post appears to be accurate and articulates the thinking behind system which is if you are a non Spanish national and you or partner contribute or have contributed through work you get healthcare. The only other way is when your country agree to pay Spanish government for healthcare or you pay the local government ( once resident) or you have private healthcare. So in a nut shell no one gets free healthcare irrespective of how long you may have lived in Spain.

 

[Joppa]

And there is no social security agreement between US and Spain over state healthcare, so no S1 that UK and EU pensioners are entitled to. So you have to have private healthcare or contribute to Spanish state healthcare after one year as a condition of living in Spain. And if you have existing medical condition, it will be very difficult to get private medical insurance with no copay or exclusions acceptable to Spanish immigration authorities, at least for the first year in Spain.