Kids healthcare under Adeslas Familias, what is actually covered
did they mention anything about the waiting periods. some procedures like minor surgeries for kids have a six month window before you can use them. if you just arrived in gran canaria and need something done fast it might be an issue. check the carencias section of your contract really closely.
usually they waive those if you show you had a previous private policy in another country within the last month. it worked for us.
thanks for posting this. we were looking at sanitas vs adeslas for our move next month. does this cover the pediatric emergency room at materno infantil or is it only private clinics. i get confused about which hospitals take which cards in las palmas.
does this include the standard childhood vaccines. my lawyer said some private plans make you pay out of pocket for the stickers and you just bring them to the nurse. i want to know if i need to set aside extra cash for the 12 month shots.
glad to hear the eczema referral went smooth. we had a nightmare with our dnv application because the paperwork from adeslas didn't explicitly state there were no co-pays for certain specialists. did your agent near la cicer give you the certificate in english or just spanish? the office we used in triana only gave us spanish docs and it caused a huge delay with our residency.
it is worth noting that if you have kids with ongoing prescriptions, the private plan usually doesnt cover the cost of the medicine at the pharmacy. you pay the full price unlike the public service where it is subsidized. we learned that the hard way after the first month here in las palmas. it adds up if they need asthma inhalers or chronic stuff.
wait, even with the adeslas card? i thought there was a discount.
nope, pharmacies only recognize life-long subsidies via the seguridad social system. private is paid in full.
honestly the wait times at the mesa y lopez clinic have been getting worse lately. we went in last tuesday and waited over an hour despite having an appointment. I think the influx of dnv families is starting to stretch the private clinics in las palmas. it's still better than the public system wait times but the seamless experience people talk about isn't always the reality. glad you had a good run with the dermatologist though.
we have this exact plan for our two girls and the dental part is what surprised me. a lot of people think it is fully free but most of the hardware for braces or specialized cleanings still has a copay even on the familias tier. it is cheaper than without insurance but not zero cost.
i actually disagree about the value of the vision add on. we skipped the 8 euro monthly fee and just pay for the exams at an independent optician near santa catalina park. it usually costs around 30 euros for a very thorough checkup and we aren't locked into a monthly contract. if your kids don't have major vision issues it might be cheaper to just pay as you go.
i see your point but for kids who lose or break glasses constantly the insurance discounts on frames can sometimes pay for itself. leo and luna are still young but once they hit school age those 8 euros might feel like a bargain.
for anyone reading this and considering sanitas vs adeslas in the isles, check the hospital network first. adeslas is great for the smaller clinics but if something major happens and you need a stay at perpetuo socorro or santa catalina, make sure your specific tier covers it. some of the "familias" plans have restricted hospital lists depending on when you signed up.
this is a huge point. a friend of mine had to drive all the way to the other side of the island because their specific adeslas sub-type wasn't accepted at the hospital five minutes from their house. always check the cuadro medico map before you need an emergency room.
the best thing about the adeslas familias plan here is that almost every private pediatrician in the city center takes it. we never wait more than two days for an appointment. way better than trying to deal with the public health center near santa catalina which is always packed.
just a heads up for anyone looking at this now. the price for kids went up slightly in the 2024 quotes. it used to be a bit cheaper but i think they adjusted it across the islands. still a good deal compared to us prices obviously.
how much of an increase are we talking about. i am waiting for my renewal notice.
we are also in las palmas and use the same adeslas plan for our seven year old. just a heads up on the dental side of things since you mentioned the eye exam. even with the extra 8 euro add on, we found that most orthodontics are still out of pocket or only discounted by like twenty percent. the peace of mind for sudden fevers is great but don't expect it to cover much if they need braces later on. fixed costs in spain for kids dental can still bite.
that is exactly what i was worried about. we are currently looking at the sanitas plans instead because their dental coverage seems slightly better for kids. did adeslas give you a list of preferred clinics in guanarteme or did you have to go further out?
one thing people forget is that the dnv requires zero co-pay insurance. if you are paying 30 euros for speech therapy that sounds like a reimbursement model or a specific service that falls outside the core dnv-compliant part of the plan. just be careful when renewing your residency if the investigators see invoices for co-pays, it can sometimes trigger questions about whether your insurance is actually full coverage.
did you check your policy for the psychology coverage yet? many of these adeslas plena plus plans have a session limit for kids. we found out the hard way that after 20 sessions you pay the full rate. it is worth checking now before you actually need it because finding a child psychologist in gran canaria who speaks english and takes the card is already hard enough.
one thing people miss is the travel insurance aspect. if you take the kids to visit family back home or go on holiday to another part of europe it usually covers emergency care up to a certain limit. saves you from buying separate travel policies for every little trip.
the app is actually okay for finding specialists in las palmas. just make sure you select the specific familias version of the policy in the filter because some doctors only take the older legacy plans. we spent an hour at a clinic once before they told us they didnt take our specific version.
i found that the coverage for speech therapy is actually pretty decent on this plan. we had to get a referral from the primary pediatrician first but adeslas approved ten sessions without much of a fight. usually that stuff is a nightmare to get covered in other countries.