Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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1191. To ask the Minister for Health if he will provide details of all changes made to the assessment of means and other criteria in relation to the medical card and general practitioner card schemes, including discretionary medical cards, since March 2011; if the full details of the scheme as now operated is now available on his Department’s website; and if not, the reason for same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46756/13]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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Changes to eligibility criteria for a medical card or a GP visit card since March 2011 are detailed as follows. Under Budget 2013, the income thresholds for an over-70s medical card were adjusted to €600 gross income per week for a single person, and €1,200 gross income per week for a couple. Those persons over 70 with a weekly income of €600-€700 for a single person and €1,200 to €1,400 for a couple qualified for GP visit card. The eligibility criteria relating to the standard medical card means test assessment was amended by removing home improvement loan payments and excluding the first €50 per week from travel to work expenses, such as depreciation, but leaving the mileage element unaffected.

With regard to cards awarded on a discretionary basis, at the request of Minister Reilly, the HSE set up a clinical panel to assist in the processing of applications for discretionary medical cards, where income guidelines have been exceeded but difficult personal circumstances, such as an illness, exist. This panel was established as part of the centralisation of the medical processing which was completed in July 2011. In previous years, there was a decentralised process which meant there could be inequities throughout the country and discretionary medical cards may have been awarded in some parts of the country and not in others due to the lack of a centralised standardised approach. Since this centralised approach, there has been no change to the assessment process for discretionary medical cards and the scheme continues to operate in such a way that those who suffer genuine financial hardship as a result of a medical condition receive the benefit of a medical card. There is a link on the Department’s website to the HSE website (www.hse.ie ) where all information on the medical card scheme is available.