Spain caps pharmacy costs for irregular migrants at €8.23 a month
Spain's official gazette (BOE) of 13 May sets a 40% prescription charge for irregular migrants, capped at €8.23 a month. Vulnerable people pay nothing. Fraud concerns…
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Spain caps pharmacy costs for irregular migrants at €8.23 a month
Manuel walks into a pharmacy in Lavapiés asking for paracetamol. He shows a document proving his irregular status. The pharmacist charges him €1.20 for a pack of 20 tablets. Next month, if he needs more, he will not pay a single extra euro. This is the new reality introduced by the Royal Legislative Decree published in Spain's official gazette (BOE) on 13 May.
The amendment to Article 102 of the Law on guarantees and rational use of medicines establishes that foreign nationals neither registered nor authorised as residents will pay 40% of the retail price of medicines, capped at €8.23 per month. If the 40% exceeds that amount, they pay no more. And if they are considered vulnerable (based on income criteria), their co-payment is zero.
The provision is not entirely new: the 40% rate was already approved in 2018. What the reform introduces is the €8.23 cap, absent until now. In practice, any irregular person on chronic treatment or taking several drugs will see their monthly pharmaceutical spending limited to that figure, regardless of the actual cost of the medicines.
The debate over fraud risks has not been long in coming. Since there is no register of these patients (precisely because they are not on the municipal register and have no health card), there is no way to control whether they visit several pharmacies or resell the medicines. There are antiestéticars it could become a business: buying insulin, antiretrovirals or painkillers at subsidised prices and sending them to their country of origin. The experience in other countries, such as the United Kingdom, where legal residents must pay high healthcare surcharges, contrasts with this open door.
The economic impact is hard to quantify, but the pull effect is cited by many analysts as an additional incentive for irregular immigration. Meanwhile, citizens with legal residence remain subject to an income-based co-payment that can be far higher. The striking figure: a Spaniard on average earnings pays 40% with no cap; the irregular migrant, with the same medicine, will never pay more than €8.23 a month.
Manuel walks into a pharmacy in Lavapiés asking for paracetamol. He shows a document proving his irregular status. The pharmacist charges him €1.20 for a pack of 20 tablets. Next month, if he needs more, he will not pay a single extra euro. This is the new reality introduced by the Royal Legislative Decree published in Spain's official gazette (BOE) on 13 May.
The amendment to Article 102 of the Law on guarantees and rational use of medicines establishes that foreign nationals neither registered nor authorised as residents will pay 40% of the retail price of medicines, capped at €8.23 per month. If the 40% exceeds that amount, they pay no more. And if they are considered vulnerable (based on income criteria), their co-payment is zero.
The provision is not entirely new: the 40% rate was already approved in 2018. What the reform introduces is the €8.23 cap, absent until now. In practice, any irregular person on chronic treatment or taking several drugs will see their monthly pharmaceutical spending limited to that figure, regardless of the actual cost of the medicines.
The debate over fraud risks has not been long in coming. Since there is no register of these patients (precisely because they are not on the municipal register and have no health card), there is no way to control whether they visit several pharmacies or resell the medicines. There are antiestéticars it could become a business: buying insulin, antiretrovirals or painkillers at subsidised prices and sending them to their country of origin. The experience in other countries, such as the United Kingdom, where legal residents must pay high healthcare surcharges, contrasts with this open door.
The economic impact is hard to quantify, but the pull effect is cited by many analysts as an additional incentive for irregular immigration. Meanwhile, citizens with legal residence remain subject to an income-based co-payment that can be far higher. The striking figure: a Spaniard on average earnings pays 40% with no cap; the irregular migrant, with the same medicine, will never pay more than €8.23 a month.
Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (97 replies).
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