Residency / Healthcare / SIPPS

[steve]

Some pharmacies are very strict about what they will supply and prescription drugs will not be given without a prescription. Others will give you almost anything but obviously without a state health service prescription you cannot get a discount on the cost. This may be OK for visitors but is not much use for residents. I have just checked the priceds or my monthly supply of blood pressure tablets on prescription. The full price is €78.67. The discounted price is €26.92 and I can claim 30% of that against my income tax. On the other hand in the UK it would not cost me anything.

[jonboy]

So, to summarise , residencia will not automatically get us a state health card as we have to find a doctor which can take time and is likely to be out of town - out of town is not an issue but not having a card for prescriptions could result in us not able to obtain the medicines or at worst have to pay full cost which seems to be around 3x times the discounted state healt card cost. Alternative is to stay in UK for 183 days a year awhich in itself gives rise to keeping two homes etc etc.

Many thanks again for the advice and help with this ...

JB

[steve]

As a resident you will always be able to apply for your state health card which inconveniently is no longer a card for foreigners but an A4 piece of paper. This is done at your local Centro de Saude. In Carvoeiro you are unlikely to be allocated a doctor and you will be registered sem medico but you can obtain state prescriptions from a Centro de Saude. I have not done this on a regular basis so I do not know whether this is without charge or whether you have to pay the very small consultation cost. Certainly when you are a regular I believe that you can simply leave a request for a presription and collect it later. Private doctors can also issue state system prescriptions and if you have been a regular "customer" this may be without charge on a regular repeat basis not involving a consultation.

[shanagarry]

Steve - you a mine of very useful information - thank you.

[jonboy]

Presumably dentists are along the same lines - find a private one that suits? There seems to be a number in the Carvoeiro / Lagoa area. Pirvate dentists in UK are now very expensive - even for a routine checkup and hygenist visit we are talking of £100 min so I am guessing that Portuguese dentists shoudl not be too far away from this on cost?

Many thanks

JB

[blue]

Recently my adult daughter had a check up & clean at our dentist in Lagoa, it turned out she needed a filling, the total cost was €50.