Spanish hospitals charging tourists double for care in Barcelona

FALLING ill while abroad in Spain shouldn’t be a financial burden.

But in Barcelona tourists are being charged triple the normal rate by a third-party company employed by two hospitals in the Catalan capital.

International Care Patient Assistance (ICPA) helps Hospital del Mar and Hospital de Sant Pau by charging patients for care once they have been discharged and head home.

But ICPA had free reign to charge what they want and were managing the bills of 1,615 tourists in 2017, it can be revealed.

Hospital del Mar received €852,000 but the ICPA received a whopping €1.8 million by charging double.

Shockingly, not even the Hospital de Sant Pau know what they are charging the ICPA, which could be in the millions.

The hospitals in Barcelona defend the company and say that they have insured the ‘vital payment for services rendered’.

While ICPA officials have said that ‘at all times’ the company has followed ‘the requests made by hospitals in managing the payments of tourists’.

Instead, the hospitals are blaming ‘pressure from insurance agencies’, and follow up care once tourists arrive home.