Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:“notes that:

- under the Health Act 1970, eligibility for the medical card scheme is primarily means-based and that the means basis for eligibility has been subsequently re-confirmed in legislation by the Oireachtas;

- the Health Act 1970 (as amended) provides that persons who ‘are unable without undue hardship to arrange general practitioner’ services for themselves and their family qualify for a medical card;

- the Health Service Executive (HSE) is obliged to operate in accordance with the health legislation with respect to each individual and that the HSE’s assessment for a medical card must ‘have regard to the overall financial situation’ of an applicant;

- the centralisation of the processing of medical cards at a national level, rather than at a local level as was the case before mid-2011, facilitates the assessment of all applicants for medical cards in a consistent and equitable manner irrespective of where they reside in the State;

- the HSE has produced National Assessment Guidelines to provide a clear framework to assist in making reasonable, consistent and equitable decisions when assessing each applicant;

- there has been no change in the policy, whereby the HSE continues to apply discretion to grant a medical card where a person’s income exceeds the income guidelines; and

- the HSE’s National Assessment Guidelines facilitate the application of discretion by decision makers in responding to the needs of the applicant when additional or exceptional circumstances exist;commends the Minister for Health for directing the HSE to set up a clinical panel to assist in the processing of applications for medical cards involving discretion, where there are difficult personal circumstances;

further notes that there is no target to reduce the number of medical cards granted where discretion was applied; and

commends the Minister for Health:- and the Government for providing resources to meet the increase in the number of medical cards and general practitioner (GP) visit cards since March 2011, which now stands at over 1.9 million or 42 per cent of the population;

- for the passing of legislation to abolish restrictions on GPs wishing to become contractors under the medical card scheme;

- on the implementation of legislation to achieve savings under the medical card scheme through the use of generic drugs and reference pricing;

- on the savings being made in the cost of drugs for the medical card scheme through negotiations with pharmaceutical drug suppliers;

- for directing the HSE to examine how it can best assist patients and families to access the full range of supports and entitlements from the health service so that individuals, who are not entitled to a medical card, could still receive services that meet their needs;

- for commencing the most radical reform of the Irish health system since the foundation of the State, where access to health services will be based on need and not on ability to pay;

- for the publication of the White Paper on Universal Health Insurance, which underpins the Government’s resolve to deliver on the Programme for Government commitment to end the inefficient and inequitable two-tier system and establish a single-tier health service, whereby everyone will be insured for a standard package of primary and acute hospital services under a universal health insurance system, which will be founded on the principle of social solidarity; and

- and the Government for commencing the introduction, on a phased basis, of a universal GP service without fees for the entire population within its term of office, as set out in the Programme for Government, with the initial phase to provide a universal GP service to all children aged five and under."

I wish to share time with Deputy Tom Barry.

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