Hi

We are planning to move to Murcia in the summer and I wonder if anyone can tell me what the situation is for me as a type 1 insulin dependent diabetic.

I have free medication in the UK - ie the insulin and any other prescription plus eye tests but I understand that I will probably have to pay for this in Spain.

Could anyone give me an idea of how much this will cost?  Also, does anyone have any experience as to the level of care you can get in Spain.  In the UK I have the annual checks - flu jab,etc.

I imagine that if I were to get medical insurance anything diabetes related (which is virtually everything!!!) will not be covered but does anyone know of any supplier that may not be too expensive.

I have also started another chain about orthodontic costs for 2 kids as we have to factor that into the equation too!  Going to be an expensive (but hopefully worthwhile) move.

Thanks

Julie

Brady bunch in Spain - 29 November 2007 01:08 AM

Hi

We are planning to move to Murcia in the summer and I wonder if anyone can tell me what the situation is for me as a type 1 insulin dependent diabetic.

I have free medication in the UK - ie the insulin and any other prescription plus eye tests but I understand that I will probably have to pay for this in Spain.

Could anyone give me an idea of how much this will cost?  Also, does anyone have any experience as to the level of care you can get in Spain.  In the UK I have the annual checks - flu jab,etc.

If you get integrated into the Health service then the insulin should be practically free if not free, I am sure I remember an expat telling me it saved him a fortune when his Spanish SS went through.

Flu jab can be had free for pensioners ‘65 years+’ on the NHS as far as I know.

Here are a couple of links, might not answer all your questions…
http://ezinearticles.com/?Health-Care-in-Spain-for-Visitors-and-Ex-Pats-Living-and-Working-Here&id=374656

http://spain.othercountries.com/pages/articles/index.asp?page=health

My father moved over to Spain when he was still on the waiting list in the UK for a year for a hip replacement, he visited the doctor in Spain Jan, had the op in Sept and went on a visit to the UK mid Dec for Christmas. Meantime he had a letter from the HNS in the UK to tell him they had changed his hospital for the operation which they still hadn’t given him a date for. He called in with his doctor in the UK the same Dec, his Doctor there thought it was probably a good idea to cancel the UK op! He made a great recovery and even received physio for 30 days after, don’t think you get this in the UK!

The health service has been much better here than the UK, the only thing that has been happening now is the same thing that had been happening in the UK, Spanish hospitals are becoming inundated with patients from other EU countries ‘including the UK’, so the EU will probably eventually end up ruining something else that was top class!

Hopefully the links will help.

Thanks for this Econ

I know where you are coming from re NHS in UK - one of the many reasons why we want to move!

Kind regards

Brady bunch