Medical Insurance

Hi Dan Plute,
I'd suggest enquiring at your bank, I know Montepio offers a plan (no age limit) but all banks may provide a plan at a relatively low price. 
On the other hand, Multicare although comprehensive, has an age limit and it's getting more  and more expensive (maybe to make up for the huge fine they got from the Portuguese antitrust last December).

Have a good weekend.

Thabk you for the information. I wilk check Montepio for a policy.  This e have an account with Millennuym and they advised their policy will not cover anyone over age 75.  Do tou have contact infomation for Nontepio.  Thank you very much.

Hi Dan Plute,

as far as I know a regular account with MONTEPIO costs around 3 € per month, the insurance policy is about 2€ and it's called Advance Care: you can check both online at Montepio.pt  and advancecare.pt (not available in English or any other language yet)

Another bank is Santander and they offer Seguro Safecare (but there's an age limit) and yet another one is Credito Agricola, you can become a shareholder (with a deposit of 500 € locked for 3 yrs) so the account is free or pay 15€/each quarter for the account, the insurance has no age limit if you take out a CA CliniCard at 6€/month.

As all sites are availabe only in Portuguese (SAD !) I suggest you just get into the nearest branch and ask for info.  Normally you should be able to be attended in English.

Have a good day.

Hi Santi2 and thank you for the reply to my inquiry on medical insurance.   I checked the Montepio web site for information on medical insurance and could not find a link to inquire about the insurance.  We currently have an account with Millennium Bank branch and they advised me they do not have a policy for anyone over the age of 75.   They suggested a private policy from companies like Cigna etc.  I can obtain a policy from them but it is very expensive, over Euro 800.00 per month.  I did a search on Google and found a few companies that will provide limited coverage insurance for me,  Some of the policies limit the annual expenses to 10K and have a cap of 1 Million on coverage.   I will inquiry with the Irish Embassy about any referrals.   I may check out the Portugal medical program and see if I qualify.  Unfortunately, I cannot obtain a European Union Health Card.   thank you again for helping me with the medical insurance.

Good morning Dan Plute, 
why don't you have a look at CA CliniCard
https://www.creditoagricola.pt/para-mim … -clinicard
it's just a suggestion.
Regards.

Thank you Santi2.  I will check your suggestions.  We are hoping to make the move to Portugal in April.  I will chech the web for contact information and see if I can communicate wuth your suggestions about medical insurance.  My ither alternatuve is to contact them in person when we arrive in Portugal.  I really appreciate your suggestions.

If you want to PM me we are also moving to Portugal in April (SF consulate). We are both 65 and are using a guy by the name of Ged Healy. If you PM me I can give you his contact info. Pretty good coverage, much less than Cigna... I don't know if this is true as I have yet to test it real life, but I am told that even though coverage kind of sucks in general for the over 60 crowd if you can get it at all via private insurance, the Public coverage picks up a lot of the slack. Also, I am told that the public cancer care is superior to private and the over 60 private coverage does not cover oncology at all. So a bit of good news bad news good news syndrome. Assuming my information is correct. I have found so much misinformation on all of the chat rooms and blog sites. But hopefully my info is near reality.

Hi Dan Plute,

as I wrote elsewhere in the forum "Portuguese people are very kind and go out of their way to help foreigners (although not their neighbors) but some of them will see you as a potential source of income: so they will offer services, help, typically language assistance, though you may discover their services are far from being professional or qualified. "
To this I must add that a lot of English-speaking people will try to sell you all sorts of services.  I have lost count of the crooks...
My suggestion is to take your time to enquire (don't worry, some Portuguese will be proud to show you they speak some English) and double-check info but please, try to learn Portuguese, do not do like many Uk expats who end up living a secluded life in their little circles and do their shopping once a month at Tesco.  I find this so sad and pathetic: they miss the fun of living here.

Boa tarde e boa sorte!

Hi there
We are already "on the ground", having been here for 3 months now ( my husband for 6). He's in his 60's, I'm in my 50's and I, as a Type 1 Diabetic, am about to get into the whole public vs private issue. I now have my Social Security number, have been to my local Centro de Saude (Health Centre) and asked for scripts for chronic meds. The pharmacy has confirmed the Portuguese alternatives and assures me that once I have the script from the doctor, all of my chronic meds will be free. I was very pleased to see that they have my two types of insulin readily available. In South Africa, I had to fight the biggest medical aid company there for more than a year to get them to approve the insulin my specialist wanted me to have! And for that "service", we paid an absolute premium every month.

I found the Health Centre to be very well organised (they have a great ticketing system everywhere for queues here) and it took less than half an hour for both of us to be registered in the system and presented with our Centro de Saude docs, which also show your Social Security and NIF numbers on there. I can give you feedback on my experience once I've been to see the doc, got my script and my meds if you like, as I was very encouraged to read that their public care is considered superior in some aspects! I do know that Portugal is rated in the Top 10 in the world for their healthcare.

Kind regards
Janine

Bom dia!
I'm really glad for you, in any case healthcare is on average better in Europe than, say, North America.
I'm not suggesting you shouldn't benefit from the NHS here in Portugal, however it's good to search for alternatives, just to be on the safe side.
Boa sorte!