The Association of Diplomats warns of the lack of health coverage for the partners of officials abroad

Eduardo González The Association of Spanish Diplomats (ADE) has warned the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the "serious situation of vulnerability" faced by several spouses or partners of civil servants posted abroad, "who are deprived of the healthcare coverage provided by MUFACE through the Nueva Mutua Sanitaria" (New Health Mutual Insurance Company). The ADE has therefore asked the Ministry "to take action to resolve this unjust and discriminatory situation." In a letter sent this past Thursday, March 19, by the president of the ADE Board of Directors, Alberto Virella, to the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Xavier Martí Martí, the Association asserts that several spouses or partners of civil servants posted abroad “have been denied health insurance coverage even while living with them,” despite the fact that the 2014 Law on State Foreign Service and Action (LASEE) establishes, in Article 59.4 “On Support for Families,” that “civil servants of the General State Administration posted abroad and their beneficiaries shall have the right to access health insurance coverage similar to that which they would have if they were providing their services in Spanish territory.” “Despite the provisions of the aforementioned article, and due to the application of other regulations that do not take into account the specific circumstances of the Foreign Service,” the spouses or civil partners of civil servants abroad “cease to be beneficiaries of MUFACE - Nueva Mutua Sanitaria, and are therefore left without de facto health coverage,” when “they receive a state pension, even if the amount is less than the minimum pension” or when “they work for an employer or are self-employed and receive financial compensation for sporadic or occasional work of an amount higher than the threshold stipulated for being a beneficiary, but insufficient to subsist abroad and afford health insurance on their own,” the letter continues. Therefore, these individuals, being legal residents abroad (although generally tax residents in Spain), do not have an effective right to ordinary Social Security healthcare coverage and, lacking MUFACE beneficiary status, "find themselves in a situation of vulnerability not contemplated in the aforementioned Law," which reveals that, "once again, the general regulations of our country do not adequately address the circumstances involved in having a General State Administration abroad, with public employees posted abroad with their families," warns the ADE. For all these reasons, professional spouses or partners are forced to contribute to a system (Social Security) whose healthcare they cannot routinely access if they reside outside the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland, "forcing them to take out private health insurance." Furthermore, when insurance is finally obtained, the successive changes between local, Spanish, and expatriate insurance policies over time result in the repeated loss of seniority and waiting periods, with the consequent impact on coverage. In some cases, they are even forced to "give up their professional careers when moving to certain countries where private healthcare is very expensive." "Given that, particularly with regard to retired couples, the majority are still women, we are facing discrimination that disproportionately affects them," warns the ADE. The Association is "aware" that this situation is due "to omissions and inconsistencies in the current regulatory framework" and warns that, although "someone might consider the Administration's actions to be lawful," this does not excuse them from being considered unfair, unjustifiable, and discriminatory. “We believe that an interpretation of the regulations should be considered that would facilitate healthcare coverage abroad for these individuals,” because “the spirit of the law is to protect beneficiaries, not to leave them without healthcare coverage, a consequence of failing to take into account the complex reality of the families of Foreign Service personnel.” In this context, the ADE considers that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “is perfectly entitled to promote the necessary regulatory reform” and is “in a position to quantify the number of people affected” by this situation. “Undoubtedly, they will have the cooperation of the affected civil servants and their partners, and this will facilitate the prompt contracting of appropriate health insurance,” the Association notes, proposing, as a possible solution, “the possibility of exploring the contracting of an ad hoc insurance policy or the expansion of the current one by the Ministry.”

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