Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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941. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 417 of 27 June 2017, if the information requested in the question can be obtained from the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection; if he will confirm that his Department has no involvement in monitoring the deaths of medical card holders against the names on general practitioner lists and not responsible for auditing this situation. [37380/17]

Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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942. To ask the Minister for Health further to Parliamentary Question No. 418 of 27 June 2017, if he will introduce a sanctions system in circumstances in which it is clear that the overpayments are not due to a normal time lag between date of death and cessation of fees. [37382/17]

Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 941 and 942 together.

I understand that my colleague Regina Doherty T.D., the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, will address the matter you raised concerning the role of community welfare officers.

The HSE Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS) is responsible for providing reimbursement services to primary care contractors for the provision of health services to members of the public in their own community, including GPs contracted to provide services to eligible persons under the General Medical Services Scheme. As previously outlined to the Deputy, a number of channels exist through which the Primary Care Reimbursement Service (PCRS) receives notice of the death of a medical card or GP visit card holder. These include:

- Notification through the Death Event Publication Service (DEPS) via a monthly file;

- Notification through the local Community Health Offices;

- Notification through the National Medical Card Unit contact centre, where clients’ families provide information;

- Notification via letters/returned cards from clients' families;

- Notification from Nursing Homes;

- Notification from GPs.

Payments to GPs in respect of services provided to persons under the GMS scheme are terminated once the notification of a person’s death is recorded. In circumstances where amounts have been paid to GPs for periods after the last day of the month in which a person has died, the PCRS makes appropriate adjustments to the monthly capitation payment made to GPs to balance any such overpayments.

There are no plans to introduce a sanctions system for GPs in relation to overpayments related to deceased eligible patients. It is important to stress that any such overpayment made to a GP in relation to a deceased medical card holder or GP visit card holder is recouped when the death of the eligible person is recorded by PCRS via the aforementioned process.

Should the Deputy be aware of a specific instance where an overpayment has occurred in relation to a deceased patient which she believes should be investigated, she would be welcome to submit such information to my Department or directly to the PCRS.