UK pensioners residing in EU request government secure their healthcare

Campaigners for UK citizens living in the European Union have called for the government to secure healthcare payments for pensioners for at least two years after the divorce from the bloc.

In a letter to Theresa May on Thursday, campaigners said they are concerned that pensioners will have to pay for insurance to remain abroad.

The government said that it’s in talks with countries including Spain, France and Ireland regarding continuing citizen rights after the UK leaves the EU even if it does so without a deal.

The Department of Health and Social Care said British nationals should not be concerned about health cover: “Our priority is to ensure UK nationals living or working in the EU can continue to access the healthcare they need as we exit the EU.”

Officials at the British Embassy in Madrid reassured Brits in Spain on Wednesday that they will still get access to healthcare, even in the case of a no-deal Brexit.

An Embassy spokesperson told the Guardian: “It is a priority for the UK’s Department of Health, and for the British Embassy in Madrid, to ensure UK nationals living or working in the EU can continue to access the healthcare they need as we exit the EU.

“We are working closely with Spain to make sure patients can continue to access healthcare, whatever the outcome.

“The Spanish government has already announced that it is planning contingency measures to guarantee healthcare provisions to UK nationals living in Spain starting on the date of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU if there is no agreement, on a reciprocal basis.”