Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 81: To ask the Minister for Health and Children the monetary value attached to a medical card; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45834/10]

Mary Harney (Dublin Mid West, Independent)
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There are two main factors associated with medical cards and GP visit cards, firstly the capitation and other fees paid to General Practitioners (GPs) and, secondly, the cost of drugs supplied to patients.

GPs who hold contracts under the General Medical Services (GMS) Scheme with the Health Service Executive (HSE) are remunerated through a range of fees and payments, most of which were amended in the Health Professionals (Reduction of Payments to General Practitioners) Regulations 2009, which came into effect on 7th July 2009. Included among these fees are more than 50 different capitation fees, which vary depending on the age and gender of the patient and the distance he or she lives from the GP's surgery. For example, fees currently range from €76.98 for a male patient under 5 years living 3 miles or less from the GP's surgery to €218.37 for a female aged 65-70 years living more than 10 miles from the surgery. In addition, there are special capitation rates of €280.31 for persons aged 70 and over residing at home and €896.07 for persons aged 70 and over residing in private nursing homes. There is also a range of additional payments; for example, in respect of out-of-hours consultations, temporary residents, special items of services (e.g. suturing), panel size, practice support allowances and locum expenses.

As regards the supply of drugs and medicines, effective from 1st October 2010, medical card holders will only have to pay a prescription charge of 50 cent per item subject to a maximum of €10 per month for each person or family. GP visit card holders avail of the Drugs Payment Scheme, which now involves a co-payment of the first €120 spent per family in any calendar month. Drugs costs vary significantly depending on the patient's medical condition.

My Department has been in contact with the HSE in relation to the average cost of a medical card per annum and the Executive has indicated that, given there were 1,598,823 medical card holders and 114,106 GP visit card holders on the 1st November, 2010, the variety of payment arrangements and the variation in drug costs under the GMS Scheme, a single average annual cost figure in respect of the medical card and GP visit card is not a sufficiently refined measure for policy options and decisions.

The estimated total expenditure in 2009 on the GMS Scheme was approximately €1.85 billion. The HSE Service Plan for 2010 shows the projected cost of the GMS Scheme this year as €2.032 billion. The Service Plan also shows a projected increase in medical card and GP visit card numbers of 144,000 and 16,111 respectively for 2010.