[xabiaxica]

Hi - yes, as per my bio, I have a business that helps people plan a move to Spain, inlcuding referals to private insurance companies in Spain. I'm answering the question related to a visa and residency application where private healthcare is required, not optional. For many people, public health care in Spain is an excellent choice, but for a non-lucrative visa application (and other classes of visa and residency permit), it is not an option.

As per forum rules, please refrain from touting your business in the discussion forum.

Should you wish to , follow this link https://expatforum.sitesdebloques.org/business/

Please bear in mind though, that you would still not be permitted to tout your business in the main discussion forums.

 

[xabiaxica]

did you dind any comapny that covers you?

I that you previously posted about this.

Have you been in touch with any/many insurance yet? Did you have any luck?

 

[xabiaxica]

It is obviously a complete farce though so another thankyou to all the brain dead who voted for Brexit.

Just to be clear, EU citizens have to have the same level of medical insurance when ing as resident, so Brexit has had no impact here.

As a British EU citizen you would have needed the same before Brexit.

 

[xabiaxica]

So as a Birtish citizen, ASSSA are saying I can get cover, even though I have pre exisiting medical condition but not all things will be covered for that condition but they did not answer me about my medication (which is special and may have to come from a hosptial). Why cant they just be black and white about this?

Your nationality is immaterial.

Prescription costs are generally not covered by health insurance, nor are they covered by the convenio especial should you change to that after the first year.

 

[xabiaxica]

Do you are making a biggest gamble ever, applying for a NLV, waiting to move, paying for the insurance , only on the off chance it might get accepted or not, so what is the point, you have to have some gurantee?

As said: there is no guarantee that any initial visa application will be accepted, nor that application to renew at 1 & 3 years will be accepted.

 

[xabiaxica]

if the first year application is accepted what would stop the 2nd and 3rd year not being accepted? so you go out there, make the move and then year 2 & 3 not accepted, then what you come back?

That's right.

I personally know people whose renewal applications failed after either the 1st or 3rd year. Sometimes the issue is income, sometimes healthcare, sometimes other things.

Some managed to resolve the issue & obtain renewal, but some were unable to & had to return to whence they came.

 

[xabiaxica]

yes understanding that, how do i find out how much my medication costs, it is a special injections, are there pharmacy companies in malaga i can email to find out costs?

The easiest way to find out is by asking at a local farmacia next time you're in Spain.

 

[xabiaxica]

@pammi2013 I thought that you had asked about medication costs previously!

There's a link in my reply to you here https://expatforum.sitesdebloques.org/threads/special-expensive-meds.1538034/#replies

post #4 on the thread

 

[xabiaxica]

i did and no one from the pharmacy replied

I'm confused.

You replied on that thread that you had found the cost of the medication on the link I provided & were shocked at how expensive it is!

If you're sending emails to pharmacies asking about prices there's pretty much zero chance you'd get a response. You could ask face to face the next time you're in Spain.

 

[xabiaxica]

hello, my medication has changed, i ed a pharmacy in malaga to which I had no reply. when I came last time I asked the pharmacies the cost of my medication (which was an injection) and they said you can only get it from a hospital , so how do I go about finding out the cost of this as obviioulsy i wont be able to the hosptial as I am not a paitent? or living there, thanks

Have you searched for the new medication on the link I gave you?

 

[xabiaxica]

uts been a long time, can you resend link pls

Vademecum España para el médico, farmacéutico y particular

Vademecum España ofrece información online completa y sin descargar sobre medicamentos, enfermedades, farmacia y laboratorios farmacéuticos.

www.vademecum.com

 

[xabiaxica]

ive tried putting my special medication in and it is saying ¡¡ No hemos encontrado medicamentos con la búsqueda rituximab !! so i take it not available from pharmacy it would come from hospital

Just found this Eficiencia de diferentes dosis de rituximab en la artritis reumatoide | Reumatología Clínica.

Cost of the medication is shown at nearly 800€ a month

 

[xabiaxica]

ok thanks but it is not a montly thing, it is an infustion and may be required every 5/6 months?

ah, OK. On the link it's saying fortnightly infusions.

So 800€ for three or four infusions I guess

 

[xabiaxica]

so in realtion to your reply

Oh just another heads up. If you are planning on coming over on an NLV and the company gives a medical cert but doesn't cover this treatment.
First off if that's discovered you may have the visa cancelled and you will be asked to leave and face a fine and a possible ban.

Then basically, you get covered, but not for your ailments, you get your visa, you come there and pay for your own treatment, that gets flagged, so basically means what is the point of applying for the Visa if you are not going to be allowed to stay.. how does that even make sense if you are willing to pay yourself..

Maybe turn that around.

When a visa is issued it is issued under certain requirements. Healthcare cover equal to national healthcare (ie no uninsured pre-existing health conditions) is just one of those requirements.

If the requirements of the visa are broken, how could the holder of the visa expect to be allowed to stay?

 

[xabiaxica]

Because often they will exclude the conditions that you have declared and cover you for everything else.

Yes.
Then they give you a certificate which says that the policy is visa appropriate when it technically isn't.
We've heard that some of those who approve the visas actually now check the policy & deny the visa when they see the exclusions.

 

[xabiaxica]

true but xabiaxica is saying that is not legal, as becuase when you go and get treatment for the conditions you have that are not covered, you will be tracked through NIE but my argument is if you are paying yourself, what is the problem ?

The 'visa certificate' isn't a legal document as far as I am aware. Only the policy itself is.

The problem is that at some point you might find yourself unable to pay. So then who pays?

That's why the government insists that the health insurance has no co pays & no exclusions.

 

[xabiaxica]

but wht if you can prove you can pay, you are showing your savings, we can even put money aside in case we need medical cover? if it is only 800 Euros a year for my treatment /infusion i can pay that no problem, i can do that for the year then after the 1 year apply for the convinea especail , highlight my medical history then pay but smaller costs

What is the case today might not be the case in a year or three. You would have to pay the cost of medication with the convenio especial in any case, so ability to do so doesn't come into it.

But in any case, nobody is going to ask if you can afford medication. If your income is such that you qualify for a visa, then that shouldn't be an issue.

What if your condition worsened during that first year & you needed some form of treatment that you couldn't afford & the health insurance wouldn't pay for?

Really there are no other 'what ifs'. For the first year, the visa requirement is no co pays & no exclusions.

 

[xabiaxica]

ASSSa have told me there are NO Copayments. anyway i have filled out their form to see what they can do for me highlighting my medical history

Yes, most insurance companies offer a no co pay policy. The other issue is that there must be no exclusions for visa applicants

 

[xabiaxica]

so what is your business called?

The member must not or tout his business on the forum, so is not permitted to tell you, neither publicly, nor by private message.

 

[xabiaxica]

are you the secretary of this website because all I keep getting is obtacles and yet a man on this forum who had a hard attack got covered on NLV with ASSSA and they were covered for any first issue that related to his brain?

I & others are simply trying to advise you of possible issues. & the facts as they stand.


It's entirely up to you if you wish to take a chance & apply for a visa with an insurance policy with exclusions.

Some clearly do slip through. Others don't. As another member mentioned, if you are later found to have a policy which doesn't comply with visa requirements, your visa might be cancelled.

I personally know a couple who had major problems renewing at years 1 & 3 due to health insurance coverage. At their age the convenio especial was more expensive for them than they had been paying, but they did eventually switch to it I believe.