NextSpring

Free Care Goes to "Insured Persons", and the Act Leaves the Minister to Say Who They Are

Answer

The general rule applies to you

No exception is recorded for citizens of Slovakia on this topic. That is the answer, not a gap - everything below is the rule you get, unchanged.

172 exceptions recorded across 63 countries · none match Slovakia to Malta · Access to healthcare

The Health Act, Chapter 528, settles the question in one sentence and then hands the answer to somebody else. Article 24(1) says that only an insured person may qualify for free healthcare benefits provided by or on behalf of the public healthcare system, and article 24(2) says the Minister determines by regulations who is deemed an insured person - a definition article 2 completes by saying an insured person is "a person included in the list established by regulations made under this Act". So the Act creates the category and the category is filled in elsewhere. What the Act does say plainly is what happens if you are not on that list: under article 25(4) you pay the full fees from the Register of costs the Ministry keeps and publishes, with a ministerial waiver available only in exceptional circumstances or on humanitarian grounds. Alongside this, the Social Security Act makes insurance a consequence of working: under article 3(1) every person who has passed their sixteenth birthday and not reached retirement becomes insured as an employed, self-employed or self-occupied person, and under article 7(1) three contributions a week are payable for an employed person - one by the worker, one by the employer and one out of the Consolidated Fund. The Social Security Act's own medical benefit is narrower than its name suggests: "Free Medical Aid" under article 23 is a means-tested supply of drugs, spectacles, dentures and prosthetic aids for conditions that do not require treatment in a hospital, with the household's weekly means tested against the Eighth Schedule. One more provision is worth knowing before using a private clinic: article 26 requires every private healthcare provider to charge the same scale of fees whatever Member State the patient comes from.

Verified with official sourceMonitor - can change2026-10-11

At a glance

Who gets free public healthcare
Only an insured person

Article 24(1) of the Health Act. The Act does not list who that is; article 24(2) leaves it to regulations made by the Minister.

What an insured person is, in the Act
A person included in the list established by regulations made under the Health Act

Article 2 of the Health Act. The definition is a pointer, so the Act alone cannot tell a reader whether they qualify.

If you are not insured
The full published fee for each service

Article 25(4) of the Health Act, charged by reference to the Register the Permanent Secretary keeps under article 25(1), which must be updated annually and made publicly available.

Waiver
At the Minister's discretion, in exceptional circumstances or on humanitarian grounds

Article 25(5) of the Health Act, partial or full.

How insurance arises from work
Everyone over 16 and under retirement becomes insured as employed, self-employed or self-occupied

Article 3(1) of the Social Security Act. "Self-employed person" is defined in article 2 as a person ordinarily resident in Malta who has not passed their sixty-fifth birthday.

Contributions for an employed person
Three a week: one from the worker, one from the employer, one from the Consolidated Fund

Article 7(1) of the Social Security Act.

Free Medical Aid under the Social Security Act
Means-tested, and only for conditions not requiring hospital treatment

Article 23(1) of the Social Security Act: drugs, spectacles, dentures and other prosthetic aids, where household weekly means do not exceed the scale rate in the Eighth Schedule.

Private clinics
Must charge the same scale of fees whatever Member State the patient is from

Article 26 of the Health Act, for patients in comparable medical situations.

Cross-border reimbursement ceiling
The fee in the Maltese register, whatever was actually charged abroad

Article 25(3) of the Health Act.

Requirements

  • Be an insured person as determined by regulations made under the Health Act, to get free public healthcare
  • In practice, insurance follows work: employment, self-employment or self-occupation in Malta makes you insured under the Social Security Act
  • If you are not insured, expect to pay the published fee for each service, or to apply for a ministerial waiver
  • Every residence route recorded here requires private sickness insurance in its own right, and most of them require it to cover all risks across the European Union

What applies to you

Nothing changes for a citizen of Slovakia

We have no rule recorded that treats your citizenship differently here, so the general rule above is the one that applies to you. That is an answer, not a gap.

What the law says

Text layer - verbatim verifiedHealth Act · Article 24
«**24.** (1) Without prejudice to any other provision of any other law, only an insured person may qualify for free healthcare benefits provided by, or on behalf of, the public healthcare system. (2) The Minister shall, from time to time, determine through regulations made under this Act who shall be deemed to be an insured person for the purposes of this article.»

The asterisks are the stored reading's rendering of the article number in bold. This reading was taken as text rather than from the layout-preserving extraction used for the other Maltese chapters.

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About this source

The Government of Malta's statute book, published on the internet by the Minister responsible for the Law Commission under article 12 of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 (Act XL of 2021). It carries the Constitution, every Chapter of the revised edition with amendments incorporated, every piece of subsidiary legislation under them, and Acts and Legal Notices as enacted. Addresses follow a stable ELI shape: /eli/cap/<n>/<lang>/pdf for a Chapter, /eli/sl/<chapter>.<n>/<lang>/pdf for subsidiary legislation, /eli/act/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf and /eli/ln/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf for instruments as made, and /eli/const/<lang>/pdf for the Constitution. Both official languages are served at the same address with eng or mlt substituted. Article 12(4) of the 2021 Act gives the text on this site a statutory presumption: unless proof is brought to the contrary it is deemed to be a true representation of the law, incorporating all amendments up to the date indicated on the site.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: It is not the authentic text. Under article 10(2) of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 the authentic text is the revised edition itself, which is the sole and only proper text in all Courts of Justice; the internet publication carries only the rebuttable presumption in article 12(4), so the site is official but defeasible. Two consequences follow for citation. First, the presumption runs only up to the date indicated on the site, and that date appears on the HTML page rather than inside the PDF, so a PDF taken on its own states no cut-off and none should be invented for it. Second, where the Maltese and English texts conflict the Maltese prevails - article 74 of the Constitution for any law, article 10(3) of the 2021 Act for a revised edition - so an English quotation here is the subordinate text and should not be relied on against a Maltese one. It cannot be cited for administrative practice at all: who may apply, what documents are wanted and what a programme currently charges in processing terms are matters for Identita, the Residency Malta Agency and the Commissioner for Revenue, and the instruments repeatedly delegate them to guidelines those bodies may issue.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedHealth Act · Article 2, definition of "insured person"
«"insured person" means a person included in the list established by regulations made under this Act;»

The entire definition. Everything a reader needs to know about their own entitlement is in an instrument this one only points at.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Government of Malta's statute book, published on the internet by the Minister responsible for the Law Commission under article 12 of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 (Act XL of 2021). It carries the Constitution, every Chapter of the revised edition with amendments incorporated, every piece of subsidiary legislation under them, and Acts and Legal Notices as enacted. Addresses follow a stable ELI shape: /eli/cap/<n>/<lang>/pdf for a Chapter, /eli/sl/<chapter>.<n>/<lang>/pdf for subsidiary legislation, /eli/act/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf and /eli/ln/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf for instruments as made, and /eli/const/<lang>/pdf for the Constitution. Both official languages are served at the same address with eng or mlt substituted. Article 12(4) of the 2021 Act gives the text on this site a statutory presumption: unless proof is brought to the contrary it is deemed to be a true representation of the law, incorporating all amendments up to the date indicated on the site.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: It is not the authentic text. Under article 10(2) of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 the authentic text is the revised edition itself, which is the sole and only proper text in all Courts of Justice; the internet publication carries only the rebuttable presumption in article 12(4), so the site is official but defeasible. Two consequences follow for citation. First, the presumption runs only up to the date indicated on the site, and that date appears on the HTML page rather than inside the PDF, so a PDF taken on its own states no cut-off and none should be invented for it. Second, where the Maltese and English texts conflict the Maltese prevails - article 74 of the Constitution for any law, article 10(3) of the 2021 Act for a revised edition - so an English quotation here is the subordinate text and should not be relied on against a Maltese one. It cannot be cited for administrative practice at all: who may apply, what documents are wanted and what a programme currently charges in processing terms are matters for Identita, the Residency Malta Agency and the Commissioner for Revenue, and the instruments repeatedly delegate them to guidelines those bodies may issue.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedHealth Act · Article 25(4) and (5)
«(4) Any person, not being an insured person as defined under this Act, shall be subjected to pay the full fees and, or costs for benefits, services, interventions or treatments as they result from the register established in sub-article (1). (5) Without prejudice to sub-article (4) or to any other law or regulation, the Minister may approve for the partial, or full, waiver of fees and, or costs due by any person, not being an insured person, in exceptional circumstances and, or on humanitarian grounds.»
Read it at the source
About this source

The Government of Malta's statute book, published on the internet by the Minister responsible for the Law Commission under article 12 of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 (Act XL of 2021). It carries the Constitution, every Chapter of the revised edition with amendments incorporated, every piece of subsidiary legislation under them, and Acts and Legal Notices as enacted. Addresses follow a stable ELI shape: /eli/cap/<n>/<lang>/pdf for a Chapter, /eli/sl/<chapter>.<n>/<lang>/pdf for subsidiary legislation, /eli/act/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf and /eli/ln/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf for instruments as made, and /eli/const/<lang>/pdf for the Constitution. Both official languages are served at the same address with eng or mlt substituted. Article 12(4) of the 2021 Act gives the text on this site a statutory presumption: unless proof is brought to the contrary it is deemed to be a true representation of the law, incorporating all amendments up to the date indicated on the site.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: It is not the authentic text. Under article 10(2) of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 the authentic text is the revised edition itself, which is the sole and only proper text in all Courts of Justice; the internet publication carries only the rebuttable presumption in article 12(4), so the site is official but defeasible. Two consequences follow for citation. First, the presumption runs only up to the date indicated on the site, and that date appears on the HTML page rather than inside the PDF, so a PDF taken on its own states no cut-off and none should be invented for it. Second, where the Maltese and English texts conflict the Maltese prevails - article 74 of the Constitution for any law, article 10(3) of the 2021 Act for a revised edition - so an English quotation here is the subordinate text and should not be relied on against a Maltese one. It cannot be cited for administrative practice at all: who may apply, what documents are wanted and what a programme currently charges in processing terms are matters for Identita, the Residency Malta Agency and the Commissioner for Revenue, and the instruments repeatedly delegate them to guidelines those bodies may issue.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedHealth Act · Article 26
«**26.** Without prejudice to any other law or regulations relating to consumer protection in force at any time, all private healthcare providers shall be obliged to apply the same scale of fees for the services offered by them to patients, independently of the Member State of which these patients are nationals, in so far as these are in comparable medical situations.»

A non-discrimination rule binding private providers, which is unusual enough to be worth knowing about before paying a quoted price.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Government of Malta's statute book, published on the internet by the Minister responsible for the Law Commission under article 12 of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 (Act XL of 2021). It carries the Constitution, every Chapter of the revised edition with amendments incorporated, every piece of subsidiary legislation under them, and Acts and Legal Notices as enacted. Addresses follow a stable ELI shape: /eli/cap/<n>/<lang>/pdf for a Chapter, /eli/sl/<chapter>.<n>/<lang>/pdf for subsidiary legislation, /eli/act/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf and /eli/ln/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf for instruments as made, and /eli/const/<lang>/pdf for the Constitution. Both official languages are served at the same address with eng or mlt substituted. Article 12(4) of the 2021 Act gives the text on this site a statutory presumption: unless proof is brought to the contrary it is deemed to be a true representation of the law, incorporating all amendments up to the date indicated on the site.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: It is not the authentic text. Under article 10(2) of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 the authentic text is the revised edition itself, which is the sole and only proper text in all Courts of Justice; the internet publication carries only the rebuttable presumption in article 12(4), so the site is official but defeasible. Two consequences follow for citation. First, the presumption runs only up to the date indicated on the site, and that date appears on the HTML page rather than inside the PDF, so a PDF taken on its own states no cut-off and none should be invented for it. Second, where the Maltese and English texts conflict the Maltese prevails - article 74 of the Constitution for any law, article 10(3) of the 2021 Act for a revised edition - so an English quotation here is the subordinate text and should not be relied on against a Maltese one. It cannot be cited for administrative practice at all: who may apply, what documents are wanted and what a programme currently charges in processing terms are matters for Identita, the Residency Malta Agency and the Commissioner for Revenue, and the instruments repeatedly delegate them to guidelines those bodies may issue.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedSocial Security Act · Article 3(1)
«every person who has passed his Amended by: XXI. 1996.3. sixteenth birthday, but not yet reached his retirement, shall become Substituted by: insured under this Act either as an employed person, or as a self- XI. 2003.2. Amended by: employed person or as a self-occupied person.»

"Classes of insured persons." and the amendment references are the margin notes of the consolidated chapter, which the extraction interleaves with the text.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Government of Malta's statute book, published on the internet by the Minister responsible for the Law Commission under article 12 of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 (Act XL of 2021). It carries the Constitution, every Chapter of the revised edition with amendments incorporated, every piece of subsidiary legislation under them, and Acts and Legal Notices as enacted. Addresses follow a stable ELI shape: /eli/cap/<n>/<lang>/pdf for a Chapter, /eli/sl/<chapter>.<n>/<lang>/pdf for subsidiary legislation, /eli/act/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf and /eli/ln/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf for instruments as made, and /eli/const/<lang>/pdf for the Constitution. Both official languages are served at the same address with eng or mlt substituted. Article 12(4) of the 2021 Act gives the text on this site a statutory presumption: unless proof is brought to the contrary it is deemed to be a true representation of the law, incorporating all amendments up to the date indicated on the site.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: It is not the authentic text. Under article 10(2) of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 the authentic text is the revised edition itself, which is the sole and only proper text in all Courts of Justice; the internet publication carries only the rebuttable presumption in article 12(4), so the site is official but defeasible. Two consequences follow for citation. First, the presumption runs only up to the date indicated on the site, and that date appears on the HTML page rather than inside the PDF, so a PDF taken on its own states no cut-off and none should be invented for it. Second, where the Maltese and English texts conflict the Maltese prevails - article 74 of the Constitution for any law, article 10(3) of the 2021 Act for a revised edition - so an English quotation here is the subordinate text and should not be relied on against a Maltese one. It cannot be cited for administrative practice at all: who may apply, what documents are wanted and what a programme currently charges in processing terms are matters for Identita, the Residency Malta Agency and the Commissioner for Revenue, and the instruments repeatedly delegate them to guidelines those bodies may issue.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedSocial Security Act · Article 2, definition of "self-employed person"
«"self-employed person" means a person who has not yet passed his sixty-fifth birthday, is ordinarily resident in Malta, and is not an employed person nor a self-occupied person;»

Ordinary residence is written into the definition, so this limb of insurability is not open to someone who is not ordinarily resident.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Government of Malta's statute book, published on the internet by the Minister responsible for the Law Commission under article 12 of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 (Act XL of 2021). It carries the Constitution, every Chapter of the revised edition with amendments incorporated, every piece of subsidiary legislation under them, and Acts and Legal Notices as enacted. Addresses follow a stable ELI shape: /eli/cap/<n>/<lang>/pdf for a Chapter, /eli/sl/<chapter>.<n>/<lang>/pdf for subsidiary legislation, /eli/act/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf and /eli/ln/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf for instruments as made, and /eli/const/<lang>/pdf for the Constitution. Both official languages are served at the same address with eng or mlt substituted. Article 12(4) of the 2021 Act gives the text on this site a statutory presumption: unless proof is brought to the contrary it is deemed to be a true representation of the law, incorporating all amendments up to the date indicated on the site.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: It is not the authentic text. Under article 10(2) of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 the authentic text is the revised edition itself, which is the sole and only proper text in all Courts of Justice; the internet publication carries only the rebuttable presumption in article 12(4), so the site is official but defeasible. Two consequences follow for citation. First, the presumption runs only up to the date indicated on the site, and that date appears on the HTML page rather than inside the PDF, so a PDF taken on its own states no cut-off and none should be invented for it. Second, where the Maltese and English texts conflict the Maltese prevails - article 74 of the Constitution for any law, article 10(3) of the 2021 Act for a revised edition - so an English quotation here is the subordinate text and should not be relied on against a Maltese one. It cannot be cited for administrative practice at all: who may apply, what documents are wanted and what a programme currently charges in processing terms are matters for Identita, the Residency Malta Agency and the Commissioner for Revenue, and the instruments repeatedly delegate them to guidelines those bodies may issue.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedSocial Security Act · Article 7(1)
«7. (1) For every person who is employed in insurable contributions and employment, three contributions per week shall be payable, in apportionment thereof. accordance with the provisions of this Act, one by the employed Amended by|: person, one by his employer, and one out of the Consolidated Fund:»

"Class One contributions and apportionment thereof. Amended by:" is the margin note, which the extraction interleaves word by word; the stray vertical bar after "Amended by" is in the stored reading.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Government of Malta's statute book, published on the internet by the Minister responsible for the Law Commission under article 12 of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 (Act XL of 2021). It carries the Constitution, every Chapter of the revised edition with amendments incorporated, every piece of subsidiary legislation under them, and Acts and Legal Notices as enacted. Addresses follow a stable ELI shape: /eli/cap/<n>/<lang>/pdf for a Chapter, /eli/sl/<chapter>.<n>/<lang>/pdf for subsidiary legislation, /eli/act/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf and /eli/ln/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf for instruments as made, and /eli/const/<lang>/pdf for the Constitution. Both official languages are served at the same address with eng or mlt substituted. Article 12(4) of the 2021 Act gives the text on this site a statutory presumption: unless proof is brought to the contrary it is deemed to be a true representation of the law, incorporating all amendments up to the date indicated on the site.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: It is not the authentic text. Under article 10(2) of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 the authentic text is the revised edition itself, which is the sole and only proper text in all Courts of Justice; the internet publication carries only the rebuttable presumption in article 12(4), so the site is official but defeasible. Two consequences follow for citation. First, the presumption runs only up to the date indicated on the site, and that date appears on the HTML page rather than inside the PDF, so a PDF taken on its own states no cut-off and none should be invented for it. Second, where the Maltese and English texts conflict the Maltese prevails - article 74 of the Constitution for any law, article 10(3) of the 2021 Act for a revised edition - so an English quotation here is the subordinate text and should not be relied on against a Maltese one. It cannot be cited for administrative practice at all: who may apply, what documents are wanted and what a programme currently charges in processing terms are matters for Identita, the Residency Malta Agency and the Commissioner for Revenue, and the instruments repeatedly delegate them to guidelines those bodies may issue.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedSocial Security Act · Article 23(1)
«23. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act and the provisions Free Medical Aid. in the Health Act, a person who is the head of household shall be Amended by: XIII. 1991.8; entitled to such Free Medical Aid as is specified hereunder, that is XXV. 1994.2,6; the supply of such drugs, spectacles, dentures, and other prosthetic I. 2012.3; aids»

"Free Medical Aid." and the amendment references are margin notes, interleaved by the extraction. The amendment list ends with III.2026.23, so the provision was amended in 2026.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Government of Malta's statute book, published on the internet by the Minister responsible for the Law Commission under article 12 of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 (Act XL of 2021). It carries the Constitution, every Chapter of the revised edition with amendments incorporated, every piece of subsidiary legislation under them, and Acts and Legal Notices as enacted. Addresses follow a stable ELI shape: /eli/cap/<n>/<lang>/pdf for a Chapter, /eli/sl/<chapter>.<n>/<lang>/pdf for subsidiary legislation, /eli/act/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf and /eli/ln/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf for instruments as made, and /eli/const/<lang>/pdf for the Constitution. Both official languages are served at the same address with eng or mlt substituted. Article 12(4) of the 2021 Act gives the text on this site a statutory presumption: unless proof is brought to the contrary it is deemed to be a true representation of the law, incorporating all amendments up to the date indicated on the site.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: It is not the authentic text. Under article 10(2) of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 the authentic text is the revised edition itself, which is the sole and only proper text in all Courts of Justice; the internet publication carries only the rebuttable presumption in article 12(4), so the site is official but defeasible. Two consequences follow for citation. First, the presumption runs only up to the date indicated on the site, and that date appears on the HTML page rather than inside the PDF, so a PDF taken on its own states no cut-off and none should be invented for it. Second, where the Maltese and English texts conflict the Maltese prevails - article 74 of the Constitution for any law, article 10(3) of the 2021 Act for a revised edition - so an English quotation here is the subordinate text and should not be relied on against a Maltese one. It cannot be cited for administrative practice at all: who may apply, what documents are wanted and what a programme currently charges in processing terms are matters for Identita, the Residency Malta Agency and the Commissioner for Revenue, and the instruments repeatedly delegate them to guidelines those bodies may issue.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Text layer - verbatim verifiedSocial Security Act · Article 23(1)(a) and (b)
«(a) on account of bodily or mental impairment, sickness or disease, which does not require treatment in a hospital, he or any member of his household is in need of medical, surgical or pharmaceutical aid; and (b) the total weekly means of all the members of his household calculated in accordance with the provisions of Part III of the Second Schedule to this Act do not exceed the scale rate for that household, as determined by the Eighth Schedule to this Act:»

Two limits on "Free Medical Aid" that the name hides: it is for conditions not needing hospital treatment, and it is means-tested on the whole household.

Read it at the source
About this source

The Government of Malta's statute book, published on the internet by the Minister responsible for the Law Commission under article 12 of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 (Act XL of 2021). It carries the Constitution, every Chapter of the revised edition with amendments incorporated, every piece of subsidiary legislation under them, and Acts and Legal Notices as enacted. Addresses follow a stable ELI shape: /eli/cap/<n>/<lang>/pdf for a Chapter, /eli/sl/<chapter>.<n>/<lang>/pdf for subsidiary legislation, /eli/act/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf and /eli/ln/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf for instruments as made, and /eli/const/<lang>/pdf for the Constitution. Both official languages are served at the same address with eng or mlt substituted. Article 12(4) of the 2021 Act gives the text on this site a statutory presumption: unless proof is brought to the contrary it is deemed to be a true representation of the law, incorporating all amendments up to the date indicated on the site.

Standing: Maintains the text in force

Cannot be cited for: It is not the authentic text. Under article 10(2) of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 the authentic text is the revised edition itself, which is the sole and only proper text in all Courts of Justice; the internet publication carries only the rebuttable presumption in article 12(4), so the site is official but defeasible. Two consequences follow for citation. First, the presumption runs only up to the date indicated on the site, and that date appears on the HTML page rather than inside the PDF, so a PDF taken on its own states no cut-off and none should be invented for it. Second, where the Maltese and English texts conflict the Maltese prevails - article 74 of the Constitution for any law, article 10(3) of the 2021 Act for a revised edition - so an English quotation here is the subordinate text and should not be relied on against a Maltese one. It cannot be cited for administrative practice at all: who may apply, what documents are wanted and what a programme currently charges in processing terms are matters for Identita, the Residency Malta Agency and the Commissioner for Revenue, and the instruments repeatedly delegate them to guidelines those bodies may issue.

We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

Practical notes

The regulations that say who is an insured person could not be read for this record. Six addresses of the form legislation.mt/eli/sl/528.01 to 528.06 were tried and every one returned the site's own error page rather than an instrument, so no subsidiary legislation under the Health Act was reached. The entitlement in article 24 is therefore recorded as the Act states it and no further: this record does not say whether any particular resident is an insured person.

"Free Medical Aid" in the Social Security Act is not the public health service. It is a means-tested supply of medicines and appliances for conditions that do not need hospital treatment, and article 23(1) opens by making itself subject to the Health Act. Reading it as a general entitlement to free care would be a mistake.

Private sickness insurance is a condition of almost every residence route in Malta, which makes the question of public entitlement less pressing than it looks: the Malta Retirement Programme, the Residence Programme and the Global Residence Programme all require insurance covering all risks across the whole of the European Union, and Identità requires at least €100,000 of cover for the self-sufficiency permit.

Nothing read for this record is the Union's social security coordination regulation, which is what actually carries an insured EU national's entitlement from one Member State to another. That instrument was not read and is not cited here.

Sources2 · accessed 2026-10-10 to 2026-10-11
  • consolidates
    Health Act, Chapter 528 of the Laws of Malta

    Laws of Malta

    About this source

    The Government of Malta's statute book, published on the internet by the Minister responsible for the Law Commission under article 12 of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 (Act XL of 2021). It carries the Constitution, every Chapter of the revised edition with amendments incorporated, every piece of subsidiary legislation under them, and Acts and Legal Notices as enacted. Addresses follow a stable ELI shape: /eli/cap/<n>/<lang>/pdf for a Chapter, /eli/sl/<chapter>.<n>/<lang>/pdf for subsidiary legislation, /eli/act/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf and /eli/ln/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf for instruments as made, and /eli/const/<lang>/pdf for the Constitution. Both official languages are served at the same address with eng or mlt substituted. Article 12(4) of the 2021 Act gives the text on this site a statutory presumption: unless proof is brought to the contrary it is deemed to be a true representation of the law, incorporating all amendments up to the date indicated on the site.

    Standing: Maintains the text in force

    Cannot be cited for: It is not the authentic text. Under article 10(2) of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 the authentic text is the revised edition itself, which is the sole and only proper text in all Courts of Justice; the internet publication carries only the rebuttable presumption in article 12(4), so the site is official but defeasible. Two consequences follow for citation. First, the presumption runs only up to the date indicated on the site, and that date appears on the HTML page rather than inside the PDF, so a PDF taken on its own states no cut-off and none should be invented for it. Second, where the Maltese and English texts conflict the Maltese prevails - article 74 of the Constitution for any law, article 10(3) of the 2021 Act for a revised edition - so an English quotation here is the subordinate text and should not be relied on against a Maltese one. It cannot be cited for administrative practice at all: who may apply, what documents are wanted and what a programme currently charges in processing terms are matters for Identita, the Residency Malta Agency and the Commissioner for Revenue, and the instruments repeatedly delegate them to guidelines those bodies may issue.

    We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source

  • consolidates
    Social Security Act, Chapter 318 of the Laws of Malta

    Laws of Malta

    About this source

    The Government of Malta's statute book, published on the internet by the Minister responsible for the Law Commission under article 12 of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 (Act XL of 2021). It carries the Constitution, every Chapter of the revised edition with amendments incorporated, every piece of subsidiary legislation under them, and Acts and Legal Notices as enacted. Addresses follow a stable ELI shape: /eli/cap/<n>/<lang>/pdf for a Chapter, /eli/sl/<chapter>.<n>/<lang>/pdf for subsidiary legislation, /eli/act/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf and /eli/ln/<year>/<n>/<lang>/pdf for instruments as made, and /eli/const/<lang>/pdf for the Constitution. Both official languages are served at the same address with eng or mlt substituted. Article 12(4) of the 2021 Act gives the text on this site a statutory presumption: unless proof is brought to the contrary it is deemed to be a true representation of the law, incorporating all amendments up to the date indicated on the site.

    Standing: Maintains the text in force

    Cannot be cited for: It is not the authentic text. Under article 10(2) of the Statute Law Revision Act, 2021 the authentic text is the revised edition itself, which is the sole and only proper text in all Courts of Justice; the internet publication carries only the rebuttable presumption in article 12(4), so the site is official but defeasible. Two consequences follow for citation. First, the presumption runs only up to the date indicated on the site, and that date appears on the HTML page rather than inside the PDF, so a PDF taken on its own states no cut-off and none should be invented for it. Second, where the Maltese and English texts conflict the Maltese prevails - article 74 of the Constitution for any law, article 10(3) of the 2021 Act for a revised edition - so an English quotation here is the subordinate text and should not be relied on against a Maltese one. It cannot be cited for administrative practice at all: who may apply, what documents are wanted and what a programme currently charges in processing terms are matters for Identita, the Residency Malta Agency and the Commissioner for Revenue, and the instruments repeatedly delegate them to guidelines those bodies may issue.

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