Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Eligibility for a medical card is primarily based on a financial assessment in accordance with the Act of 1970. The issue of granting medical cards on the basis of illness or a disability was previously examined in 2014 by an expert panel on medical need and medical card eligibility. The panel concluded that it was not feasible, desirable or ethically justifiable to list medical conditions in priority order for medical card eligibility.

An example was where there was discussion around medical cards for cancer patients. The answer we got back was not to create a hierarchy of diseases, such as a cancer patient versus someone with motor neurone disease and so forth. That was not recommended in the 2014 report. However, since December 2018, the medical card earnings disregard for people in receipt of disability allowance was substantially increased from €120 to €427 per week. It applies to the assessment process for single people and to family assessments. This very significant policy change gave effect to the important recommendation of the Make Work Pay for People with Disabilities report. This substantial increase in allowable earnings acknowledges that a medical card is a particularly significant support and ensures that people with disabilities can continue to be supported to access care where needed. Furthermore people who have been on a disability payment for at least a year can retain a medical card for a further three years on return to work provided they were in receipt of the payment for a period of at least 12 months prior to commencing employment.

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