Spanish Healthcare

From the Observer;

The Spanish Society of General Medicine is now calling for extra resources to deal with rising costs. Regional health authorities complain that providing drugs, health and social care for more than a million ageing Brits - and to a lesser extent, German and Dutch - is crippling, prompting the Spanish Health Minister, Elena Salgado, to demand an annual £40m from the UK government.

She says expats abuse the system by using health facilities without registering as residents. 'Many are relocating to Spain and receiving medical treatment for serious conditions more quickly and of a high standard unavailable to them on their own NHS but, as many of these are 'invisible' residents and have no appropriate medical cover, Spain is recouping only a fraction of the costs of treating them,' she told fellow ministers.

The UK transfers a monthly sum of €175 to Spain for every UK pensioner legally resident but three quarters of Brits, according to research by Spain's Health Ministry, have not applied for a residence card - out of ignorance, fear of taxation or a reluctance to sever ties with Britain.

Two thoughts; One, this problem is a further weakness of public healthcare provision and entitlement and two, does our government have this sort of arrangement with Australia and is it being abused? Anybody know?