Written answers

Thursday, 18 July 2013

Department of Health

Medical Card Eligibility

Photo of Michael Healy-RaeMichael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)
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675. To ask the Minister for Health further to his proposal to stop issuing medical cards to persons who are suffering from non terminal cancer, the amount he expects to save from such a move; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36146/13]

Photo of Clare DalyClare Daly (Dublin North, Socialist Party)
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677. To ask the Minister for Health if he will reverse his announced cut and confirm that all cancer patients will continue to be in receipt of medical cards. [36148/13]

Photo of Patrick NultyPatrick Nulty (Dublin West, Independent)
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741. To ask the Minister for Health if he will immediately review the decision to deny medical cards to persons suffering from cancer; if he will clearly and publicly guarantee a medical card for persons with a serious illness and cancer; if his attention has been drawn to the distress and worry his comments have caused as well as the proposed financial burden to be expected by persons with serious illness in the future; if he will review the income limits for eligibility for a medical card to increase the income limits to make this support available to persons on low income; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36730/13]

Photo of Tom FlemingTom Fleming (Kerry South, Independent)
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742. To ask the Minister for Health if he will review and overturn his decision to discontinue medical cards for cancer patients (details supplied). [36758/13]

Photo of Alex WhiteAlex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 675, 677, 741 and 742 together.

Under the provisions of the Health Act 1970, the assessment for a medical card is determined primarily by reference to the means, including the income and expenditure, of the applicant and his or her partner and dependants. There is no automatic entitlement to a medical card for persons with a specific illness, such as cancer, nor has the criteria applied to medical card applications by cancer patients been amended or reviewed.

However, under the legislation, there is provision for discretion by the HSE to grant a medical card where a person's income exceeds the income guidelines. The HSE takes a person's social and medical issues into account in determining whether or not "undue hardship" exists for a person in providing a health service for themselves or his or her dependents.

The HSE has an effective system in place for the provision of emergency medical cards for patients who are terminally ill, or who are seriously ill and in urgent need of medical care that they cannot afford. They are issued within twenty-four hours of receipt of the required patient details and the letter of confirmation of the condition from a doctor or a medical consultant. With the exception of terminally ill patients, the HSE issues all emergency cards on the basis that the patient is eligible for a medical card on the basis of means or undue hardship, and that the applicant will follow up with a full application within a number of weeks of receiving the emergency card. As a result, emergency medical cards are issued to a named individual, with a limited eligibility period of six months.

For persons with a terminal illness, no means test applies. Once the terminal illness is verified, patients are given an emergency medical card for six months. Given the nature and urgency of the issue, the HSE has appropriate escalation routes to ensure that the person gets the card as quickly as possible.

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