HEALTH CARE – ARE YOU REALLY COVERED?

As I was growing up, my Mum always warned me never to talk about politics, sex or religion at the dinner table. For me, she also added later that I should not talk about vegetarianism or blood sports, as I tended to upset some of our more carnivorous family members and friends with my strongly held views.

I usually followed her advice at the dinner table, but with ‘Twitters’, I sense a new feeling of liberation.

Maybe Margaret Thatcher, as well as the National Health Service, should also be added to the list of ‘no-nos’ in order to avoid unnecessary conflict. Both these areas provoke intense discussion, and I have yet to meet someone who does not have a strong opinion of the former, although maybe less are concerned about the latter – that is, until something goes wrong.

Both my parents worked for the UK’s National Health Service; they were proud of it and the part that they played in it during the early years of its establishment in the UK.

However, I was always warned by my father to avoid hospital and medical treatment at all costs, and unless it was a matter of life and death. I grew up with the view that private health care was like a parasite on the back of the NHS, and that medical care should be needs based, and not led by an ability to pay.

Later, my father would have been horrified to learn that I had, and still have, a private medical health policy, albeit one issued at a very favourable rate by a friendly society when I was an 18-year-old civil servant, and which I still have to this day. I also now have to admit that I have been very grateful for it and the protection that it has given to both my partner and myself.

I first made use of private health care many years ago when my partner became very ill. It was at the time when there was only one MRI scanner covering the whole area where we lived, and this portable unit was trundled around to six hospitals in a large van once each week.

The consultant told us that we would have to wait around six months before we could get an appointment for an MRI scan. Sensing our concern, we were asked if we had private medical insurance. I nodded reluctantly and the immediate response was, “Will next Thursday morning be convenient?” I agreed, felt guilty, a traitor to the cause, but also very relieved.

So what does all this have to do with expat life? Well, when we moved to Spain, it was quite common for those under retirement age to rely on the Spanish Health Service, as well as choosing to return to the UK for certain health treatments.

This they did by using form E111 and claiming that they were visitors, even though they were permanent residents, and questions were rarely asked. Form E111 was intended to facilitate free and reciprocal health care, in cases of emergency, for visitors to member EU countries.

I recall one neighbour proudly telling me that he returned to the UK every six months specifically to get new E111 forms for himself and his extended family, and this is how his entire family had been cared for in his ten years of permanent residence in Spain.

Several months of misuse later, our neighbour became very angry when his local doctor quite rightly refused to treat his mother-in-law, and said that the family were not entitled to free health care in Spain, and as they were under retirement age they should seek private medical care instead.

Of course, more recently, and mostly due to the world recession, the reciprocal health care systems in Spain and other European countries have been tightened up considerably. However, it can lead to situations where expats believe that they are covered under the local health service.

This may be because they are working, are retired or have a health card to cover their self-employment. However, at a time of crisis, many discover that they are not covered. Although I have received several emails about this issue in recent months, I recently discovered that I too was in the same position, which I will go into further at another time.

Meanwhile, do check that you are covered for free health care in the country where you live, or that you have a private medical insurance in place.

If you enjoyed this article, take a look at Barrie’s websites: www.barriemahoney.com and www.thecanaryislander.com or read his latest book, ‘Message in a Bottle’ (ISBN: 978 1480 031005). Available as paperback, Kindle and iBook

© Barrie Mahoney

Filed under: http://www.theleader.info/article/38642/

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