Tuesday, 24th November 2009 - 14:56CET
Hospital patients to be told cost of services
Significant progress has been made on the creation of a system whereby patients at Mater Dei Hospital will be told how much services given to them cost, Social Policy Minister John Dalli said this afternoon.
He stressed that this did not mean that patients would be charged for services.
He said that over the past year, services at Mater Dei Hospital had been costed. This, he said, would be a measure to make the people more aware of the cost of healthcare and how much they were paying for it, as taxpayers.
Mr Dalli said sustainability and real access to health services were the key to health policies. Long waiting lists were an injustice he said and the government was addressing them.
He stressed that government and opposition needed to work together, away from political considerations. Politicians could not continue to make wild promises when they were hard pressed to continue to provide what already existed.
He noted that a sustainability analysis of health services in Malta showed a sustainability gap equivalent to 7 per cent of GDP.
The challenge for everyone was to give the best service, fully accessible to everyone, while ensuring sustainability.
At the beginning of his speech, in Parliament during the Budget debate, Mr Dalli thanked all those who had congratulated him on his nomination to the European Commission. He recalled his service in the House of Representatives and said that despite the highs and the lows, were it possible, he would do it again, because there was nothing more satisfying than to lead reforms which the country needed and which the people were now appreciating.
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Comments
@ Doris Grixti
You baffle me!
All foreigners pay for the services they use at Mater Dei unless they are members of the EU.
I cannot fathom why the Minister is wasting hospital's staff energy and time to do this exercise, which is pointless unless he has something else in mind (such as payment in the near future).
Their time and energy is better used to shorten the endless list of people waiting to be admitted for various operations and appointments.
One of the benefits of this exercise will mean that any foreigner who uses our health system will FINALLY be provided with a bill which he will then have to pay. This costs the country a lot of money.
This exercise will also make our doctors and consultants more aware of the money they spend on tests done at the hospital, Sure tests must be carried out but in many cases tests are done more than necessary just coz they are "free" ...
This exercise will save a lot of money and help make this sector sustainable but many of you are too blinded by political agendas to realise.
Congratulations to Mr Dalli.
Don't comment about things that you know nothing about!!!!!. You live in Sweden so you cannot know what we in Malta are going through !! Also you are a student 2nd reason why you do not know what you are talking about. Check the euro barometer and where taxes are involved we are always near or on top as the highest taxed people in Europe!!! So do not try to portray something that you do not touch and feel every day or trying to be an expert from somewhere else! That is why we nag about things like this ! We have wages which are almost frozen in time!! and cost of living going up faster than ever !!! What do you expect us to do be happy???????
Even when the Government rises our wages they are not enough because on every euro we get we pay tax on it so it is not enough!!!!! Our overtime is taxable also. Or maybe you know better from Sweden about Malta ?? (No offense to Sweden )
Maybe each one of us receiving such `bill`, should also tell the Minister how much Social Security Contributions we pay monthly too..!! Which incidently is calculated at 10% of the Gross Wages by the Employee and another 10% by the Employer...
It`s the management of our taxes that is, and always was, the problem by every PN Government we had, since 1987..!! Remember .. "..Money No Problem.. ", " ..lm10 miljuni l`hemm u lm10 miljuni l`hawn, X`HINUMA..", by Eddy Fenech Adami.." and ".. Id-Dejn ihalsuh Uliedna u Wlied Uliedna..." by George Bonello DuPui..!!!!!
Ahhh Mr Minister.... Li Tizra` Tahsad Habib....!!!!!!!!
@John Micallef you actually have a point. The Swedeish goverment gives me more value for those five years when I paid taxes and the years when I will get back to work after my studies. A good example is all the services given to my 10 year old daughter who is autistic, like free spcial school, free habilitation and other stuff. So yes, I admit that in Malta you do not get the right value for your taxes, but on the other hand taxes still provide give you something back, even in Malta. Besides taxes are also a means to help the weak, who also form part of a country and without taxes they would be the first ones to suffer.
1 Yes we do pay taxes as I am living proof of it!
2 Yes the bank does give you a bank loan after I sacrificed almost 15 years of my life getting the initial amount to get the bank loan!
3 I do not live in a luxurius flat , but a small compact 2 bed roomed flat and no garage.
4 Tell my boss not to minus my wages due to the fact that I have always a big difference from gross wages to net!!!
5 do you pay tax for bread??? other food or item which are necessary? Because if you don't tell me and I will surly buy from where you are buying!!!
6 Do you pay a surcharge when the electricity bill comes???? Surcharges are Taxes too!!!
7 Do you pay a fee when you need your birth certificate???? According to me any fee payable to government is a TAX !!!!
My friend please do not tell me about taxes and what I am or not paying because as you can see I DO PAY MY TAXES !!!!
a) all illegal immigrants in Malta
b) all legalised but non-working/non-tax contributing immigrants
Are not the above being treated ''free of charge'' at the cost of the maltese tax payer?
If you're going to tell educate people on how much it cost us to pull out a tooth, then we would like to know how many teeth we're pulling
nobody is nagging about paying taxes but everybody is arguing the fact that we are paying the taxes for something. one of the things is the free health care!! as i understood you do not pay taxes since you're still in uni, so we are paying for you're healthcare and now we are paying new workers who are issuing the cost of your service as well!!
Maybe taxpayers could also be provided with informaion on the amount of tax, vat, and other taxes paid throughout their life and provide the information upon arrival at Mater Dei .........
Do you really live in Malta?? Do you really know how to live and supply your family on minimum wage?? I Do!!! I have been doing it for years and when the Government raises taxes it is out of that minimum wage that it is coming out !!! and when the Government is telling me if something happens to me or my family, I will receive a receipt of what I should of paid then yes I will Nag or complain !!! Each euro taken out of people like us, it is taking out of our food, clothes, bank loans etc.... So yes (as we are almost the highest tax paying people in Europe) we moan Nag etc.... People like you do not know the meaning of taxation from wages especially minimum wage people .
Would you like to pay for something and when you go to get it you get asked to pay again?
Think about it!
you really hit the nail on the head. My self im ready to pay more tax, as long as our government give me a value for money like the Swedish government.
Were he gives me a country were really 'Kollox jimxi fuq ir- rubini' Fej issuq rota u tara ir- rotta tieghek, mhux li taqa f'xi hofra. Fej meta tmur tinqeda fdipartiment jilqawk civilment, mhux ta inuman!! Qed jghamlulek pjacir iharsu lejk!!
If you are happy up to you my friend, but i hope you are not the only Maltese saying we are getting value for money!! As nowadays, PM Gonzi has people in his cabinet that are not satisfied, figure out the ordinary people!!
We smokers are now fed up with comments such as yours. If we did not smoke you had to put your hand in your pocket every time you needed Government health assistance. If we stop smoking the health service would collapse and not save money for we pay almost three Euro on every packet of cigarettes we buy which is supposed to go towards your health services, at least that is what we are always told in every budget.
It would be a good idea if the Government was to keep a statistic of what it makes out of cigarettes and the cost of health services related to smoking.
Hopefully, if such statistics are kept I hope that these are published and you will see that we smokers do you a favour and not cost you money.
a) ask the Public Accounts Committee , which is presided by Labour MP Charles Mangion to investigate your claims,
b) Ask your local MP to table a parliamentary Question to the Minister responsible;
c) Make a written request to the Commission against Corruption to investigate your claims (they have to be founded on solid ground);
What more do you need? There was never an open government which is open to transparency in the people's money, like the PN Government. Not even under Labour.
Just dont throw stones and say that everyone is corrupt. Since that even includes the Opposition Labour Party. And if all this is to no avail to you, the real pathetic person will be just only you who chickens out of such a challenge.
I think this would be an excellent move. People should be grateful to other taxpayers for paying for their healthcare. It should allow conscientious people to try and minimise costs if possible, or if they feel that they could afford to, pay for some of the costs themselves (example buying their own medicine), or making a donation to a hospital fund.
But you are not getting these services free of charge; you pay for them through taxation.
Also, is there anything this government does that someone does not grumble? It is true that there are many other things that need to be improved etc, but Rome wasn't built in a day.
Also, everyone complains about corruption, taxes, the gov. Keep in mind that the gov is not even 1% of the population itself. Therefore all the screwing around and corruption is done from people like you and me. So instead of complaining you better pull up your socks and start reporting people who abuse from such systems. It would be better to try to educate each other instead of just blabbering. No one is perfect, but if one fine day everyone is more disciplined, and aware of what is happening around them (instead of just complaining) maybe we will get there one fine day.
you're wrong on the last part, we are getting nothing for free!! i work everday and pay taxes and NI !!!
this idea is all a waste of money, money which could be spent for many better things i think!
And what about a breakdown of minister benefits and over-waging?
What a pathetic country we live in...
Come on !! get real!!. We are in titled NOT to pay for health care as we have already prepaid . Do not forget that People spend 70% +or- of their life working so (supposed) paying taxes so if you amount that with our population that work then we are in titled to free Health care in hospitals, etc... If (heaven forbid) the government is thinking to charge us for hospital treatment the we will be paying ,then we WILL BE PAYING DOUBLE TAX !!!!!!!!
Do not forget the if the government charges us for using the hospital, he still won't cut off the tax paid for the service. It Is unfair that The government wants to give us some type of awareness of how much an operation costs or other, if it was the same government who wanted this hospital in the first place is giving compensation to bus drivers as if he is giving candy.