As someone who has lived in Spain for three years as a student, I want to share my experience regarding health insurance and insurance costs. When I first arrived, I was completely lost, not knowing which health insurance to choose, and the cost differences were significant. I hope my experience can help friends who are about to come to Spain or have just arrived.
Public vs Private Health Insurance Cost Comparison
Spain’s health insurance is mainly divided into public and private health insurance. Public health insurance is relatively affordable, costing around 60-80 euros per month, but waiting times are longer, especially for specialist doctors. Private health insurance is more expensive, with monthly fees ranging from 120 to 300 euros depending on coverage.
Here’s a comparison of major insurance companies I’ve compiled:
| Insurance Company | Monthly Cost | Coverage | Waiting Period |
|---|
| Sanitas | 120-200€ | Basic + Specialist | 6 months |
| Adeslas | 150-250€ | General + Dental | 8 months |
| DKV | 180-300€ | Full Coverage | 3 months |
| Asisa | 100-180€ | Basic Medical | 6 months |
The Necessity of Student Insurance
Never take chances! I had a friend who thought he was healthy and didn’t buy insurance, but then had acute appendicitis in Madrid. Emergency room fees plus surgery cost nearly 3,000 euros. With insurance, these costs would have been mostly covered.
Special Reminder: Many insurance policies have waiting periods, meaning you need to wait for some time after purchase to enjoy full coverage. So when considering study abroad costs in Spain, I recommend planning ahead and not waiting until you need it to think about buying insurance.
How to Choose the Right Insurance
Based on my experience, choosing insurance should consider several factors: budget, health status, residential area, language ability. If your Spanish isn’t fluent enough, I suggest choosing an insurance company with Chinese or English customer service, which makes communication much easier.
For students, I recommend Sanitas’ basic package, which offers good value for money and has clinics in major cities, making medical visits convenient. If you have special medical needs, such as dental or eye care, you’ll need to choose a more comprehensive package.
Finally, I remind everyone to carefully read the terms when buying insurance and understand under what circumstances you can get reimbursed and when you cannot. Don’t be like me who didn’t understand anything at first and suffered many losses. I hope this information is helpful to everyone, and feel free to leave comments below for discussion.
