MEP Peter Agius has proposed changes to EU cross-border healthcare rules aimed at making it easier for Maltese patients to receive specialised treatment in other EU Member States when the required healthcare is not available in Malta.
The European Parliament is currently discussing a revision of the existing Cross-Border Healthcare Directive, which establishes the right of EU citizens to access healthcare across borders.
Speaking during a debate in the European Parliament’s Committee on Public Health, Agius said the directive has had limited uptake in Malta, partly because patients are required to cover costs upfront when seeking treatment abroad.
According to Agius, only 15 Maltese patients were sent for healthcare to the 26 other EU Member States under the directive in 2021. This contrasts with the hundreds of Maltese patients sent to the UK through Malta’s bilateral agreement with the UK’s National Health Service.
Agius said more Maltese patients could benefit from healthcare in other EU Member States if the existing system was better known and procedures were made easier.
“UK hospitals have cured hundreds of our loved ones and we must keep cultivating the excellent relationship with UK-NHS,” Agius said.
“EU membership however now offers us wider opportunities of healthcare in the 26 other EU states with specialised hospitals for health solutions which are not available in Malta due to our size and numbers limitations.”
He said he wanted to make better use of the opportunities offered by EU citizenship by facilitating faster and easier access to healthcare abroad through the Cross-Border Healthcare Directive.
Agius is submitting 23 written amendments to the directive, including proposals aimed specifically at addressing Malta’s needs.
Among the amendments are measures to secure the availability of medicinal products that are not currently available in Malta, as well as the possibility of obtaining a second opinion from a consultant when a decision is made to refuse healthcare abroad.
He is also proposing that the Maltese health system directly cover costs incurred for healthcare abroad, alongside coverage of travel costs.
The amendments would also seek to widen the range of healthcare services covered for patients travelling abroad for treatment.
Discussions on Agius’s amendments are expected to continue in the Health Committee until October, with a vote in the European Parliament plenary expected by the end of the year.