How to Deal With Medication Prescriptions

Welcome to the Forum, visit your local GP wherever you will be living, you will have to pay a fee to see the doctor.

Usually  €10- €20  Doctors charge, + prescription  costs.

For a medication related to a chronic condition you don’t need a prescription sheet issued by your GP each time you want to buy it. 

Just show a photo of the original prescription.

Sometimes some medications can run out of stock, so it is better if you don’t wait until the last day to get the next box.

Even if you are entitled to NI (state health insurance) by being employed, only medications for chronic conditions are covered. 

You will need your GP to fill out some form and send it to the NI services.

Thank you all for the details and explanation.  We just returned back from our first trip to Malta, and were lucky enough to 1) find a long term rental and 2) begin to understand all of the differences between the Malta healthcare system and that of the US. We will have to purchase foreign health insurance as part of our residency application, and still learning about that. Looking forward to getting back to Malta in a few weeks, and settling in there.

Thank you all for the details and explanation. We just returned back from our first trip to Malta, and were lucky enough to 1) find a long term rental and 2) begin to understand all of the differences between the Malta healthcare system and that of the US. We will have to purchase foreign health insurance as part of our residency application, and still learning about that. Looking forward to getting back to Malta in a few weeks, and settling in there. - @edcampanaro

Good to hear

@edcampanaro

Hi,

We are a few months behind you in the process. What did you find about the private health insurance. We found affordable plans, but they include very broad preexisting condition exclusions that apply for the first five years. It is a bit like the American system before the Affordable Care Act. We did find more generous but much more expensive. Did you find a middle of the road option?

Thanks for any insight.

Dave

We dont need an “Affordable Care Act” because its already affordable.

good medical insurwnce will cost 1000 a YEAR instead of one month. If you pay into the nationnal insurance system healthcare is FREE (not sure how that is for retirees though, small % of income otherwise)

Prescription medicines that can cost 100s of dollar a month can cost tens here.

Private medical is very cheap here and great quality - like we paid private everything for a child birth, private rooms, relationships with rhe same mideife and dr for months before etc and the cost was less thaj 5k toal. Free if you ise the national health system.

you cant really compare it any sense to the US system.

@volcane

Completely agree with you Volcane. Whilst not everything is perfect in Malta, we certainly cannot complain about the standard of healthcare. Coming from the UK myself, I can only compare with the level of healthcare provided to my family members back home, (my sister also works for the NHS) and I feel that we have a better service in Malta.

During the years I have lived in Malta, I have used both the Maltese national health system (free) and private medical services. I have nothing but praise for both.

Private health insurance is a staff benefit offered by many (most) employers, certainly I have been provided with this with all three of my employers in Malta.

@ David Glassark  I currently have Atlas Insurance (AXA), my husband is also covered but has never been asked asked about any of his prexisting health conditions.

Regarding medication prescriptions, my private insurance covers the following: Up to €400 per year but an additional €400 during a period of 40 days prior to commencement of in-patient or daycare treatment and 40 days after the end of such treatment.

We use laferla, they cover us really for anything and most of it is just straight "full refund for any reasonable costs" no stated limits - except quite poor dental care cover. It costs me 1k/year and its global (excluding US) cover.