BackThe report is on four cases that the Commissioner for Health investigated and about which he is at an impasse with Department of Health for the last two years. One case concerns a Type 2 diabetic patient who had been prescribed Glargine Insulin by his Consultant Diabetologist. The Department’s policy is to give this type of insulin only to Type 1 patients, and, therefore, the patient was denied the treatment needed. There must be, of course, other patients with the same predicament.
A second case concerns patients who need to have their blood sugar levels tested at least four times a day on instructions from their Consultant Diabetologist but the Department’s policy is to provide Haemaglucotest (HGT) Blood sugar testing strips, four every day, only to patients up to the age of eighteen.
The other two cases concern patients suffering from Hepatitis C the treatment for which the Department of Health has not procured.
The Commissioner for Health is of the opinion that, contrary to what the health authorities are maintaining, all complainants in the cases mentioned above are eligible for free medical aid in terms of the Social Security Act. Denying them their entitlement is causing them an injustice that needs to be adequately remedied.
The Ombudsman and the Commissioner recommend that a review of applicable legislation is carried out to ensure clarity and legal certainty about the rights of persons entitled to receive free medical aid. A review that should ensure that regulations/policies/protocols made by the competent authorities that determine, limit or condition the right of households or persons to receive free aid to which they are entitled, have the necessary vires in terms of the law under which they are issued.
Moreover, and more importantly, these regulations must reflect not only the word but also the spirit of the Social Security Act as expressed by the people’s representatives in Parliament. The Social Security Act justly imposes on society a compulsory, contributive insurance for the benefit of the common good. It creates a social contract that entitles eligible persons to legislated benefits but also imposes on the State a corresponding obligation to deliver them. Fiscal and economic considerations in the management of available funds are primarily aimed at securing essential treatment to indigent households and/or persons suffering from serious and life-threatening diseases or conditions – the most vulnerable sections of society.
Meanwhile, the report was discussed during a cordial meeting held this morning between the Parliamentary Ombudsman and the Commissioner for Health with the Parliamentary Secretary for Health, the Hon. Chris Fearne. The meeting was also attended by Dr Anthony Vassallo, Administrative Consultant in the Office of the Ombudsman, Permanent Secretary, Mr Joseph Rapa, Chief Medical Officer, Dr Dennis Vella Baldacchino and Legal Director, Dr Bridgette Gafa.
Entitlement to the Free Supply of Medicines under the Social Security Act
Source: The Parliamentary Ombudsman, Malta
