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Quality and accessibility
Hosting over 200 hospitals within the public and private sectors, Portugal’s healthcare systems present a diverse offering of general care to specialised treatments. According to Expatica, one of the largest online platforms for English-speaking expatriates, Portugal currently spends around 9.1% of its GDP on healthcare, which places the country as the 12th biggest spender across the EU/EFTA.
Portugal’s average life expectancy has averaged around 80 years over the last 10 years according to World Bank Open Data reports. The nation also holds a 63.15% rating in quality on the World Index of Healthcare Innovation report, ranking higher than the US which holds a 56.33% rating.
Hosting a positive trend of dealing with English speaking foreigners over the years, Portugal hosts a range of doctors that converse in other languages. Many of the healthcare establishments within the country host English speaking professionals, ensuring that the language barrier does not hinder treatments to patients. According to Melanie Guerra, commercial director of Stone Capital, “it has become so much more interesting with businesses, cultural diversity, language and even the number of international schools that have opened up. This is a huge indicator of the positive happenings within all sectors in the country, making the choice of immigration easier.”
Affordability
“As a South African, healthcare is important and does cost a lot depending on your needs. Choosing Portugal means that you will have access to one of the most affordable healthcare systems in the world. Portugal provides a range of affordable treatment plans and systems for citizens and visitors. Your investment into Portugal and gaining a Golden Visa, will help you secure exceptional healthcare services when needed and at a fraction of the cost,” explains Stuart Ferguson, Director of 12 Star Capital.
Managed by the publicly financed National Health Service or Serviço Nacional de Saúde (SNS), public healthcare within the country is free of charge for children under the age of 16 and seniors over the age of 65, while other age brackets can receive treatment for a reduced fee. Portuguese women receive free treatment during all stages of their pregnancies, including all appointments prior to delivery. Within a hospital you are covered for several treatments such as emergencies, terminal illness care and post-operative care. Public medical services may refer you to private institutions for additional care that may not be completely covered by government funding.
Through a comparison of private healthcare insurance, a family of 4 living in Portugal will pay a low average of $1,500 a year for comprehensive care. With private healthcare insurance, you have a choice of various packaged services and healthcare networks, depending on yours and your family’s needs, as well as payment plans ranging from month-to-month, quarterly and annually.
Healthcare plans in Portugal provide flexible options that are tailored to suit your lifestyle in order to give you the best quality of life.
Healthcare for expats
One of the leading reasons many immigrants choose Portugal is for the healthcare. As an immigrant moving to Portugal, you will have access to their outstanding public and private healthcare. Through your immigration programme, you will be advised on the best route and walked through the process of first gaining private healthcare insurance. Once you have attained your citizenship into Portugal, you will therefore qualify for the public healthcare. It is evident that the quality of healthcare for foreigners and residents is equally exceptional.
It is worth noting that urbanised areas will have enhanced quality and access to healthcare. Expats will be pleased to know that most prescribed medication is free of charge or partially subsidised and are prescription based in many cases. A range of chronic medication is readily available within the country. You will have access to all healthcare within the country once your Golden Visa has been approved.
Seeking quality healthcare should be a top priority when seeking a Plan B option for many investors. A Golden Visa presents an opportunity that opens avenues, allowing you to secure a superior lifestyle in Portugal. Ensure this journey is facilitated seamlessly through 12 Star Capital before the applicable visa changes come into effect in 2022.
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I have first hand experience in the National Healthcare system after having a heart bypass. Excellent service & facilities
Also some experience with the private system which i would not recommend to anyone. Poor service & wanting to charge a fortune for everything.
By J from Lisbon on 17 Sep 2021, 11:16
17th spot > world-leading??
By Fred Doe from Algarve on 17 Sep 2021, 12:59
This "so called report" is pure fantasy !
It is clear that the author did very little or no research !
It is normal for expats to wait 2 years to be assigned a family doctor and just as long to get an appointment !
And healthcare for over 65s is NOT free of charge...
Health care is paid for by your national pension provider, makes a farce of the whole post !!!
By robert gorwill from Lisbon on 17 Sep 2021, 17:57
We have seen public hospitals in Lisbon and got a fright. So old and worn looking. In the public system doctors won't speak English. The private hospitals aren't great either and charge a fortune ie €100 to see a GP for under 10mins. This article is very misleading from what we have experienced here over 3.5 years.
By Tom Higgins from Lisbon on 17 Sep 2021, 19:54
Lets see the reality!
Despite the very disciplined vaccination of Covid, living for more than two years in Lisbon which is capital city, experiencing both private and public sector, Portugal is far away from the "good health care" title !
Public sector does not care at all about your health issue, like mentioned by another guy also you have to wait for unknown time to get family doctor.
Portugal might have good medical tools and devices, but the diagnose process is very low quality.
By Babak Fakhriloo from Lisbon on 17 Sep 2021, 20:01
This article should have been published on the 1st April. Being a native, I don't know where the author/comedian gets his information from.
By Luis from UK on 17 Sep 2021, 22:55
This has to be propaganda.
Been living in Lisbon for 5 years.
Private is okey but you have to have the money to pay for it .
Public health care is like travelling back the the 1950.My daughter was born in public hospital and that was very good but now for regular check ups in Centro de saúde they informed me they have no doctors and that I should go to private (CUF) ,she is 6weeks old.
Keep in mind I pay a min of 30% on my salary and this is what I get.
By Sweexpt from Lisbon on 17 Sep 2021, 23:37
This article is again pure golden visa propaganda. I don't deny the professionalism of most of the public sector medical staff, but they are poorly managed, overloaded, often exhausted. My mum was just diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, one of the doctors of the team (São Bernardo public hospital, Oncology, Setúbal) the only question that asked her was "what do you do for a living?", she told. Shortly after my mum (retired housewife) was sent home without treatment and as terminal patient. She is in her sixties and never had family doctor. I live in a small village so i have a medical doctor but have to wait 2-3 months for an appointment. The only way the public system works is if you pretend you are not feeling good and go the the urgency room, so the system rewards and is built around this culture. If you have early symptoms the system shall reward a patient to get early treatment but it's the complete opposite, you can only get treatment at a later stage when you need urgent care, leading to more costs. A main contributing factor is the existence of many public and private sub systems that are not interchangeable, leading to further inequalities. Government should work on an unique public-private access system, possibly a mandatory private insurance with exemption for the families that cannot afford it.
By João Santos from Lisbon on 18 Sep 2021, 02:35
4 out of 5 commenters dispute the trustwordiness of the”world leading”title applied to our Health services. I don´t have good experiences to tell, either. So now: 5 out of 6.
By guida from Lisbon on 18 Sep 2021, 06:09
I have been waiting over 18 months for a GP appointment
By John Kilburn from Alentejo on 18 Sep 2021, 08:04
I had an aneurysm and brain hemorrhage in Portimao, was taken by ambulance to Faro and then helicopter to Lisbon for immediate surgery. Stayed 2.5 weeks at Santa Maria and fully recovered. All health care staff were excellent and service cannot be faulted. Had 2 follow up check ups and was just given the all clear this week after 4 years. Only cost 7 euros to see the surgeon this week. Would not have happened in the UK! Excellent service.
By An Van Lil from Algarve on 18 Sep 2021, 09:32
To call this article misleading is an euphemism. As an MD, I hereby attest the degradation, usage of out-of-date techniques and poor access to be the norm in public healthcare. Primary healthcare is overloaded, underfunded and under constant mining by a government lead by private interests. Most medical specialties use outdated techniques, sometimes by decades, as the hospitals' administrations suffer heavy pressure to save money from central government. This is the state that froze careers and pays 1800€ a month to specialized doctors that work full time (>40h/week) - doctors which spent most of their savings to go abroad to form themselves with absolutely no support from the ruling authorities. We had once a great public healthcare system. Now it's just old, outdated, undermotivated and tired.
A worried doctor,
Godspeed
By An MD from Porto on 18 Sep 2021, 13:18
This "article" is nothing more than shameful propaganda to promote the elitist private sector which is destined to generate vast profit for its oligarchic owners - largely consisting of "private equity" and medical insurance companies. The SNS still provides fine facilities but suffers from years of political neglect and has been bled of its best practitioners by the greed and wealth of the "superiors". It urgently needs a transfusuion of money and skilled professionals . End Golden Visas, Tax the rich .
By Cavaleiro Roberto from Other on 18 Sep 2021, 15:01
The healtcare experience in Santo Tuerso has been horrible. I had to get private insurance after years of neglect. I didn't even get gyn exams. Now, I will need surgery because of the polyp in my uterus. I could go on and on about the xenophobia and poor health care I have experienced!
By Eileen Vicente from Porto on 18 Sep 2021, 15:48
.Thir article is an absolute joke. A love letter to non investigative journalism.
Me a Portuguese born and raised, and husband of an expat says this.
Outside of the private sector, health care In this country is an absolute joke.
Were full of infrastructure and pretty lights however when it comes to human resources and actual servicing people Portugal is absolute trash.
Most positions are taken by lazy, incompetent and overworked people. So all of the incredible infrastructure falls flat on its face with the abhorrent layer of human resources that interfaces the services to the patients.
We have people highly educated in old and outdated science that's been proven wrong decade's ago.
These people are more interested in their ego than the patients.
And the few good professionals have been indoctrinated in old knowledge that buries people in deeper issues.
The kind of metric that puts us in 17th place failed to make notice that even though we have a massive framework with lots of capacity, we're bottlenecked by human resources that are either too lazy or too outdated to be anything but a hazard to public health
By Pedro Sousa from Lisbon on 19 Sep 2021, 00:24
Reading the headline of the article amazed me at first until I read the comments which confirmed totally how I feel, after 15 years in Portugal.
I try to stay away from Portuguese hospitals as far as I can. The rare times I entered a local medical center I felt that I had been treated like 'cattle.'
By Johanna from Lisbon from Lisbon on 19 Sep 2021, 08:49
If ever there was something which was fake news, this article is one of them. Misleading, false and pure propaganda for Gold Visa sales. It is well known how degraded medical centres are, that hospitals are crumbling with lack of innovation and how there aren't even enough doctors for the population.
By K from Algarve on 28 Oct 2021, 12:25