Not many of us may realise it and most would not even know it but this country spends more than €430 million in healthcare, or something like 13.5 per cent of its total expenditure. Put differently, the government forks out over €1,000 per citizen every year just to look after their health.

No self-respecting country that holds the well-being of its citizens at heart can afford to have something that is not sustainable. Yet, the political stubbornness of the two large parties in continuing to insist on free healthcare risks causing the total collapse of the national health service and, more importantly, bringing the country to its knees. The danger is real and present.

Just over a month ago – and not for the first time, either – former Mater Dei Hospital CEO Joseph Caruana warned that free healthcare was unsustainable, no matter how politicians tried to sell it to the people. In an interview with The Sunday Times of Malta he called for “small sensible sacrifices” that, in his opinion, would leave more money to be spent on ensuring better treatment.

It was then the turn of the president of the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry, Anton Borg, to drive the point home. In comments he gave to The Malta Independent on Sunday he repeated a suggestion that had been made before, even by politicians, but never implemented.

Mr Borg thinks it is time to issue dummy bills showing the cost of the services used by those benefitting from to free healthcare. This is sensible and should have been introduced ages ago, not just for health but also in relation to all services offered by the State, especially where these are heavily subsidised.

When the idea had been mooted by politicians, the message from above appeared to have been: do not even dare thinking about it as it mightbe interpreted as being the first move towards introducing payment in national healthcare.

The same had happened to an initiative, again taken by politicians, to charge a nominal fee – something to the tune of €1.16 – for, say, bandages used in Emergency. The system had been stopped by the subsequent administration in yet another short-sighted, vote-catching move by politicians.

What Mr Borg is suggesting is that, after treatment, a ‘bill’ is issued to show what it had cost the country. The patient would, of course, not pay anything but would be expected to sign it to, at least, ensure that one realises what sort of expense was involved.

This is an awareness campaign, no more. It is a very effective way of educating citizens and make them understand that nothing is free and that, in fact, other citizens have contributed to one’s treatment just as one would then be expected to give one’s share to care for somebody else. This will, hopefully, make us become intolerant of abuse. Abuse, we all know, exists not just in healthcare but in many other areas, most notably social benefits.

Mr Borg rightly called on the government not to fear shouldering the responsibility of implementing the suggestion. He also invited the social partners to come together on the matter and raise it soonest at the Malta Council for Social and Economic Development.

The Budget Speech in less than two weeks’ time could be a good opportunity for the government to set the ball rolling. That would put the Opposition and the social partners to the test as to whether they too seek the culture of appreciation Mr Borg spoke about.

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