Mental Health with Sanitas: What It Covers and 2027 Changes

In this article

Comparison

Psychology and psychiatry in each Sanitas plan (2026)

What each product covers today according to its general conditions: psychologist sessions per insured person and policy year, the waiting period from sign-up before you can use them, and whether the plan includes psychiatric admission. Consultation with a psychiatrist appears as a medical specialty in all of them except Avanza, whose general conditions do not include it. What changes in 2027 we explain further down.

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Coverage	Psychology sessions per year	Psychology waiting period	Psychiatric admission
Más Salud	15	6 months	Yes, up to 50 days a year
Más Salud Plus and Óptima	15 (with a maximum of 4 a month)	6 months	Yes, up to 50 days a year
Más Salud Familias	20 (plus 40 for eating disorders)	6 months	Yes, up to 50 days a year
Más Salud Familias Plus	20 (plus 40 for eating disorders)	No waiting period	Yes, up to 50 days a year
Profesionales Plus and Óptima (self-employed)	15	6 months	Yes, up to 50 days a year
Premium 500.000 and Más 90.000	15	6 months	Yes, up to 50 days a year
Top Quantum	20	3 months	Yes, up to 60 days a year
Avanza, Accede and Único	15	No waiting period	They do not include hospital cover
Residents	15	6 months	Yes, up to 50 days a year
Residents Platinum	20	6 months	Yes, up to 50 days a year
Residents Visado and Platinum Visado	15 and 20 respectively	No waiting periods	Yes, up to 50 days a year

Source: the Psychiatry, Psychology and Waiting Periods clauses of the general conditions of Sanitas, S.A. de Seguros, in their October 2025 (health range) and February 2026 (Residents range) editions. For Más Salud Plus and Óptima we work with the June 2022 edition: it is the one that sets the maximum of 4 sessions a month. Waiting periods count from each insured person's sign-up date and do not apply in a life-threatening emergency. What applies in your case is your policy's general conditions and particular conditions.

How mental health works in your policy, step by step

What follows comes from the Sanitas general conditions we use every day at the office and from the information Sanitas prepared in September 2026 for the 2027 renewal. Where something depends on your plan, we say so.

First the GP, then the psychologist: this is how you start

We hear it often at the office: someone has spent months sleeping badly and going round in circles about work or a separation, and doesn't know whether “that” is covered by the insurance. It is, and the path is shorter than it seems. Psychiatry is among the medical specialties of every product in the table except Avanza. Psychology is a cover in its own right with its number of sessions per year: individual care with a professional in the medical network to treat problems that need psychological intervention.

In most plans those sessions are prescribed by a psychiatrist, a GP, a paediatrician or an oncologist. That's why the first stop is usually your GP, in person or by video consultation from Mi Sanitas. In Más Salud Familias and Familias Plus the psychology clause states expressly that the 20 sessions need no prescription or authorisation. Two warnings before the first appointment: psychometric tests are at your own expense, and psychoanalysis, hypnosis and psychosocial rehabilitation, among others, are excluded. If you're not sure whether what you are offered is covered, message us first and we'll check it against your general conditions.

How many sessions you have and when you can start using them

The table above summarises what each set of general conditions says. The difference you notice most is not the number of sessions but the waiting period. In Más Salud, Más Salud Plus and Óptima, Profesionales Plus and Óptima, Residents, Residents Platinum, Premium 500.000 and Más 90.000 you have to wait 6 months from sign-up to use psychology; in Top Quantum, 3 months. In Familias Plus, Avanza, Accede and Único the sessions have no waiting period. Residents Visado and Residents Platinum Visado have no waiting periods of any kind. In Más Salud Familias the general conditions state 6 months; before you sign up we confirm in writing the one shown in your particular conditions, which is the one that counts.

Two situations change the numbers. If you are coming from another private insurer in Spain, with at least one year with it and no gap between leaving it and joining, you can ask Sanitas to reduce the waiting periods for its medical network by providing the documents of your previous policy: Sanitas decides when it assesses your application and we handle it for you. And in Familias and Familias Plus the 20 sessions are extended by 40 more a year if there is an eating disorder, in this case with a psychiatrist's prescription and prior authorisation from Sanitas with their report. It is one of the covers that gives families with teenage children the most peace of mind, and one of the least known until people need it.

If an admission is needed: what the insurance covers today

It is the hardest conversation we have and it almost always comes from a father or a daughter: a family member in a crisis that can no longer be managed at home. Sanitas policies with hospital cover (Más Salud and its variants, Familias, Profesionales, the Residents range, Premium 500.000 and Más 90.000) cover psychiatric admission with an overnight stay to treat acute episodes, up to 50 days per insured person per year; in Top Quantum the limit is already 60. For eating disorders, most of those general conditions (Más Salud, Familias, Profesionales Plus and Óptima, the Residents range, Premium 500.000 and Más 90.000) add that after admission treatment can continue in a day hospital. Avanza, Accede and Único do not include hospital cover, so with them mental health care stays at consultations and psychology sessions.

Two more points of small print. Hospitalisation has its own 10-month waiting period in Más Salud and in most of the full range (8 in Top Quantum), which does not apply in a life-threatening emergency. And the general conditions provide for a private room with a bed for a companion for admissions with an overnight stay, but not for psychiatric hospitalisations or in the ICU. We are telling you now so that nobody gets a surprise at the worst moment.

What changes in 2027: 60 days and a day hospital for more diagnoses

For 2027 Sanitas extends psychiatric hospitalisation from 50 to 60 days a year. The change has a nuance worth reading slowly: those 60 days count both days admitted with an overnight stay and days of treatment in a day hospital. It is not 60 days of admission plus the day hospital on top, but a single allowance shared out according to what the doctors prescribe. For example, in severe depression it could be two weeks as an inpatient and then several weeks attending the day hospital and sleeping at home.

The second new feature arrives for those who needed it most: the day hospital is extended to patients with psychosis, borderline personality disorder and severe depression (today it is linked to eating disorders). Sanitas reminds you that you only have these covers if they are included in the most up-to-date version of your policy's general conditions, and that they are provided within the limits and exclusions set by those general conditions. You can check it in your private area in Mi Sanitas, in the app or on the website. If you prefer, we go through it with you at the office when your renewal arrives.

Cuida tu mente and the app's programmes, for everyday life

Not everything that weighs on you needs a diagnosis. For the stress of a bad patch, a bereavement or sleep that won't come, Sanitas has Blua's Cuida tu mente service in the Mi Sanitas app: an artificial intelligence assistant and digital tests to understand how you are, self-guided therapies and content in more than 20 mental health categories, a log of emotions and goals, and referral to a professional by video consultation, by phone or in person when needed. Sanitas presents it as its digital psychology service, and the sheets of the plans in the table list it among the app's services.

Alongside it are the app's health programmes, in which the same professional supports you from start to finish: stress management, emotion management (from emotional eating to bereavement or chronic pain), life as a couple, parenting school and sleep. They are remote care by chat, phone or video consultation, designed for psychological wellbeing. The remote psychology programme described in the general conditions excludes psychotic disorders, severe depression, eating or personality disorders and dementias, which are the territory of a consultation with the specialist. And if you take antidepressants, you will be interested to know that Mi Farmagen reports on more than 120 medicines, antidepressants included. It is the pharmacogenetic test exclusive to Sanitas clients and it is separate from the insurance: if you are interested, ask us and we will explain how to request it.

Where you are treated in Madrid: Valdebebas, La Zarzuela and Mindplace

Since October 2025 Hospital Blua Sanitas Valdebebas has had a Mental Health Institute, one of its two flagship units alongside oncology: 20 of its 110 rooms are for mental health. According to Sanitas, it brings together 24-hour psychiatric emergencies, acute hospitalisation, a day hospital and outpatient consultations. We cover it in detail in our guide to Hospital Blua Valdebebas.

Closer to Majadahonda, Hospital Universitario Sanitas La Zarzuela (in Aravaca) launched a Psychosomatic Disorders Unit and an adult ADHD unit in 2026, for those who reach 30 or 40 suspecting that their trouble concentrating had a name. And outside the hospitals there are Sanitas's Mindplace centres (psychology, psychiatry and speech therapy for all ages); as of February 2026 there were three: Las Tablas (Madrid) and Murcia opened in September 2025 and Parla was inaugurated that same month of February. They see anyone, whatever insurance they have; if you are interested in going, we confirm beforehand how it fits with your policy.

What is excluded and what to do if there is a risk

There are two limits worth knowing before you sign up, not after. The first is conditions that existed before sign-up, in all products except Único, which Sanitas sells without a health questionnaire and without excluding pre-existing conditions. A mental health diagnosis or treatment is declared in the health questionnaire and Sanitas assesses it to accept the policy, accept it excluding anything related, or not accept it. Keeping it quiet leaves everything to do with it without cover. The second is in the general exclusions: the general conditions do not cover care arising from chronic alcoholism, drug addiction or intoxication from abuse of alcohol, psychotropic drugs or narcotics, nor care arising from suicide attempts and self-harm.

We say it plainly because in a crisis the only thing that matters is asking for help in time, and you don't need to look at any policy for that. If you or someone close to you is thinking of harming themselves, call 112 or 024 (the Ministry of Health's suicidal behaviour helpline): it is free, confidential, available 24 hours a day and also has a chat. For everything else (anxiety that won't go away, months of insomnia or a teenager whose character has changed), we are at the Majadahonda office to help you take the first step and understand what your plan covers, without promising you anything the general conditions don't say.

Cover according to the general conditions of Sanitas, S.A. de Seguros, checked on 1 October 2026. New features for 2027 according to Sanitas's information for the September 2026 portfolio renewal: they only apply if they appear in the most up-to-date version of your policy's general conditions. No insurance guarantees a clinical outcome: diagnosis and treatment are always your doctor's. We are an exclusive Sanitas agency, not the company.

Common questions

Direct answers, the same we give at the office.

Are psychology sessions counted by calendar year?

No. The general conditions count them per insured person and per policy year (from your start date to the next one): if your policy started on 1 March, the counter goes back to zero every 1 March, not in January. And they are per person: on a family policy each insured person has their own and they can't be passed from one to another. In addition, in Más Salud Plus and Óptima the edition of the general conditions we work with limits the sessions to 4 a month.

Can my teenage child see a psychologist with the insurance?

Yes, with the sessions of their own cover as an insured person. In most products they are prescribed by the paediatrician or the GP. If you have Más Salud Familias or Familias Plus they don't need a prescription. In the app's remote programmes, when the insured person is under 18 the conversation is held with their legal representative. And for parents there is the parenting school programme, focused on communication at home and on setting limits respectfully.

Can I see a psychologist who is not in the medical network?

With a medical network policy, sessions are with the professionals Sanitas has under contract for your product. Reimbursement plans (Premium 500.000 and Más 90.000) also let you see professionals outside the network and recover part of the bill (90% and 70% respectively), within their limits and with their own 6-month waiting period for psychology. If you already have a psychologist and don't want to change, tell us before choosing a product and we will look at it together.

Do psychology sessions have a copay?

It depends on the plan. In those without copays (such as Más Salud or Más Salud Familias) the session costs you nothing beyond the insurance premium. In those with copays (such as Más Salud Plus and Óptima, Avanza or Accede), each session has the amount set in your particular conditions, the document where Sanitas sets out those amounts. If you don't have it to hand, ask us and we will send it to you.

Do the 2027 new features apply automatically on renewal?

Only if they are included in the most up-to-date version of your policy's general conditions; that is the condition Sanitas itself sets. To check, open your general conditions in Mi Sanitas (in the app or on the website) and look for the psychiatry clause: if it talks about 60 days counting the day hospital, you already have it. If it is easier for you, bring us the renewal letter or message us and we will check it for you.

Does Cuida tu mente replace the psychologist?

No, it complements it. It helps you find your bearings, keep track of how you are and work with content and guided therapies, and from there you can book an appointment with a professional when you need it. But it is not designed for emergencies, and Sanitas makes clear in its sheets that its digital services do not constitute a clinical diagnosis. If the distress is intense or lasts for weeks, book a consultation with your GP or with the psychiatrist. If there is a risk, call 112 or 024.

Mental Health with Sanitas: What Your Insurance Covers and What Changes in 2027