Despite the current hectic situation, health continues to be one of the greatest concerns of both Spanish people and expats, along with others such as the political, economic and social situation or unemployment. Increasingly, families opt for obtaining a private health insurance that expands, and even substitutes, the health services offered by the public system. Why this trend?
More and more complete and accessible
As in any freemarket, sometimes this is the cause and motivation of improvement in the services and the attention to the public. Therefore, both medical centres and insurance agencies have opted to continuously seek the widest possible coverage and excellence in service quality. Also worth mentioning is the economic recovery of the Spanish households and the latest cuts and deterioration of the public health system.
Choice of medical centre
While through the public health system we are assigned to a single centre by obligation, with private health insurance the patients have a number of medical clinics they can choose from, assessing the aspects that matter most.
Important reduction of waiting times
We don’t state anything new when we affirm that, usually and due to the saturation of patients, the waiting time in public medical centres is high, both attending visits by appointment as well as in the emergency services. This hardly ever happens in the case of private centres, since patient care is carried out almost immediately.
Better technology for treatments and diagnostics
As mentioned previously, the growth in signing for a new health insurance is mainly due to two reasons: the excellent service and the problems suffered with the public health system. This excellence differs from the public system, mainly by the innovation and technology, both for diagnosis and treatment and well as in communication and patient care channels.
Savings on the income tax declaration
Health insurance can help us to pay less taxes on the income tax declaration: it’s a deductible expense for the self-employed and companies.
For freelancers, the costs paid for health insurance are deductible, up to a maximum of €500 per insured. Furthermore, spouse and children up to 25 years can be included in a family insurance.
Health insurance is considered a social expense, so companies can apply the costs they pay on behalf of their employees as a deductible expense. In addition, this payment in kind does not compute for the income tax declaration of their employees.