Medical care in Spain

@lany82

If you get free treatment in USA, you probably need to think very carefully before giving it up.

Spain's a great country, and if you already speak Spanish the transition is pretty easy. It's a very popular retirement destination (neighboring Portugal too) at a lower cost than USA. There's an easy residence option (NLV in Spain and D7 in Portugal) for retirees.

In general, health care in Spain is pretty good. Valencia is a lovely city, and pretty big, so it would have pretty much anything you need. (There are quite a few larger cities, so somewhere near Barcelona, Alicante, Malaga, Murcia, Bilbao, Granada would all be very acceptable. We're in Elche next to Alicante, and it is great place with easy access to the big city and lovely Costa Blanca beaches.)

There is a public health system in Spain (SNS), which is very nice to have. There are restrictions for non-EU foreigners, so, in the short term, you will require private insurance. This is very good, but, like everywhere, pre-existing conditions will bump up the premiums substantially. You might want to get a quote.

After a certain period of legal residence (1 year, I think), you can get on the Convenio Especial (affiliated with SNS). The cost is 157 euros per month for older folks (1,884 euros per person). Not cheap, but without exclusions, deductibles, or age limits.

https://www.sanidad.gob.es/en/servCiuda … pecial.htm

If 4k for your Convenio Especial is a tiny part of your retirement income, then you're all set. But, just in case, I will mention that although I have my Spanish residence permit (and Cyprus too), I mostly hang out in Bulgaria. It's cheaper for property (to buy and to own) and cheaper to live (and has cheap Wizzair and Ryanair flights to both). Getting into the public healthcare system takes longer (5 years, unless you do some work beforehand) but is cheaper. We pay 500 euros per year for the two of us (and they give us an EHIC for cover in the rest of the EU). There's an unexpected bonus here too, as most of the private hospitals are affiliated with the public system (NHIF) and get reimbursed by it. So you can get immediate, VIP treatment (as per private insurance) for a ludicrously small surcharge. Bulgaria is surprisingly great and we are very happy here, so it's not just about saving a few bucks. :-)

@lany82

Hi, my husband and I are trying to move to Valencia in Feb or March. He had a kidney transplant in 2021 so he's having problems getting private insurance in Spain. We are applying for NLV visa and are worried he won't get approved. Does anyone know of a way to get around this or know of insurance that does except pre-existing conditions. Would hate to have to cancel my dream. 😪

@Renoit

There are many insurance companies, I would be extremely surprised if none of them would accept him. It would be very expensive, of course, but after one year you could swap to the Convenio Especial which has a fixed rate based on age only. It would be even more expensive to get US/world insurance, but there's no rule that says the NLV must have Spanish health insurance (needs zero deductible, VERY expensive, and maybe Spanish translation of the policy documents).

The comparison engines Rastreator and Acierto will show you all the options for Seguros de Salud. Here's the Rastreator list. You can contact them directly or ask an insurance broker to help you.

https://www.rastreator.com/seguros-de-s … s-de-salud

Separately, you could consider a two step process, the NLV for you, and then Family Reunification for him, after you've got your NLV/TIE. Everything is easier if you're in Spain (and already a legal resident) and can see a local insurance broker and get a medical examination (if it were a condition of issuing a policy).

@gwynj

Thank you so much for the information. Didn't know about these options.