Malta’s Healthcare System: What Happens When You Get Sick?

Malta is famous for having over 300 days of sunshine a year, making it one of the sunniest and warmest countries in the EU. However, even here, a stiff sea breeze can catch you off guard, and you might find yourself down with a cold.

If this is your first time dealing with the Maltese healthcare system, you might be in for a bit of a surprise. In my experience, seeing a doctor here is often either more expensive or more time-consuming than what you might be used to back home.

Is Medical Treatment in Malta Free?

First, I want to clarify that treatment in Malta doesn't have to be expensive. In principle, the state offers almost all health services free of charge through its eight public health centres (often called polyclinics) and the main hospital, Mater Dei.

However, there is a catch regarding medication. Unlike in some other EU systems where prescriptions are heavily subsidised for everyone, in Malta, medicines are generally not free. You pay out of pocket unless you fall into specific categories, such as having a low income, suffering from certain chronic illnesses, or being a prisoner, refugee, or member of a religious order.

Why the Private Sector is So Big in Malta

This brings me to the point where healthcare can become costly—or frustrating. The reality is that public health centres are frequently overcrowded. It is not uncommon to wait half a day just to see a doctor for a routine issue.

Because of these wait times, the private sector has grown significantly in recent years. Today, it accounts for more than half of all medical care provided on the island. Consequently, the number of public and private hospitals is roughly balanced: alongside five public hospitals, there are four major private ones.

Since the private sector is so large and often better funded, private hospitals can afford advanced medical equipment that the state sometimes lacks. It actually happens quite often that the state pays for treatments in private facilities because the public sector doesn't have the specific machinery available—MRI scans are a common example of this.

This cooperation goes both ways. In fact, private hospitals are often obliged to allocate a certain percentage of their beds to the public health service to help manage the load.

My Recommendation

From my perspective, there are few places where investing in private health insurance makes more sense than in Malta.

If you are not strictly dependent on the public system, I would strongly advise avoiding it for day-to-day issues. The time you save by going private is usually worth the cost of the premium. When I advise clients moving to Malta, securing good private cover is always one of my top recommendations.