Couples who opt for In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) services at Mater Dei Hospital will need to pay between €1,800 and €2,580 for hormonal treatment, the Health Ministry confirmed.
The Malta Independent requested details after people were left under the impression that the service was to be made available for free, but are now being informed that charges running into thousands apply. “The Ministry for Health is offering a regulated, free vetting, IVF procedure and ante-natal care with added value support service that seeks the welfare of the couple and the child, with free consultations and investigative procedures, for a first time ever, at an approximate cost of €3,500 per cycle,” a spokesperson for the Health Ministry said.
“At present couples will only pay for hormonal induction, which cost is between €1,800 and €2,580, depending on the choice of medicines as required by the health status of the couple,” he added.
The Labour Party electoral manifesto said: “We will ensure that all necessary resources will be made available to the competent authority so that IVF, which law was recently introduced, is put in place without any hindrance and is made available to all couples who need the procedure”.
When contacted, the PN spokesperson for health, Claudio Grech, pointed out he was approached by two women, who spoke to him about charges related to IVF and which amount to some €2,500. Mr Grech said that while this was not mentioned in government statements made during the public consultation, it has been reported that: “Although the service would be provided free of charge by the State, the couples would pay a maximum of €2,500 for hormonal treatment for every cycle”. Consequently, he said, it seems that the payment will be introduced although details about it are scant.
Expressing his disagreement, Mr Grech said such a charge should definitely not be introduced by stealth and if it is to be introduced, it should be made definite and clear. He noted that point 43 in the health section of the PL electoral manifesto made it clear without doubt that all IVF related services will be free of charge. Moreover, the overriding statement was always that health services will remain free of charge, he added.
Speaking to The Malta Independent, Josie Muscat, chairman of St James Hospital Group, said that while they have been doing IVF for 25 years, they were never consulted by the government on setting up a public private partnership. The guidelines published in the Embryo Protection Authority Protocol stipulate charges that are to be paid by clients seeking the treatment. A number of new tests need to start being carried out and this introduces new charges for clients seeking IVF treatment at private hospitals. In addition, the government seems to be working in a Public Private Partnership with a foreign company but no one knows who this partner is al- though it is rumoured this will most probably be Kings College in London. We do not know under what conditions it will operate and what it will be paid for its services.
The government had issued an expression of interest but no Maltese company applied because the established conditions were not favourable, Dr Muscat said. He pointed out that his hospital charges €2,900 for the IVF procedure. The necessary medicines and hormonal treatment, adds up to around €1,500.
Visits to hospital, ultra sounds and blood tests amount to €300 to €400, depending on the number of visits and tests required. In all, a try in private at IVF/ICSI costs circa €4,500. As a result of the new regulations, clients will have to pay an additional €90 to the authority every time they undertake the IVF procedure both at the public and private hospitals. Another €30 needs to be paid every time if clients opt to freeze oocytes. All these continue to inflate costs for patients. It is not yet clear whether the €120 to the authority will be paid by the patient or government for those patients who opt to take the service at the public hospital.