Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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To ask the Minister for Health the position regarding the income threshold criteria for medical card eligibility for those under the age of 25 years; if there has been any change in this position in the past 12 months; if he will provide a breakdown of the numbers of persons with medical cards and an age breakdown of same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47896/12]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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Persons aged 16 - 25 years, including students, who are eligible for medical card/GP visit cards are:

-Persons who are dependants of medical card/GP visit card holders;

-Financially independent persons with means who are within the medical card/GP visit card guidelines;

-Cases of undue hardship where it would be unduly burdensome to them to provide General Practitioner or medical and surgical services.

All 16 year old dependants of a medical card holder now receive their own medical card automatically. Eligibility is set to the parent’s expiry date. Renewal/review forms are not issued.

A number of enhancements were made earlier this year to the medical card application system. In relation to applicants in the age group 16 to 25, being in receipt of age-related Supplementary Welfare Allowance no longer, in itself, prohibits a person from being awarded a medical card or a GP visit card.

In April 2012, there were 1,758,927 medical cards, of which 166,767 were for young people in the age group 16 - 24. There were 126,279 GP visit cards, of which 11,487 were for young people in the age group 16 - 24.