Erin McGreehan (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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912. To ask the Minister for Health if she will review and increase the income thresholds for medical card eligibility to reflect rising living costs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39012/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Medical Card provision is primarily based on financial assessment. In accordance with the Health Act 1970 (as amended), eligibility for a medical card is determined by the HSE, which assesses each application on a qualifying financial threshold. This is the amount of money that an individual can earn a week and still qualify for a card. It is specific to the individual’s own financial circumstances.

Persons aged 69 and under are assessed under the general means tested medical card thresholds which are based on an applicant’s household income after tax and the deduction of PRSI and the Universal Social Charge. Certain expenses are also taken into account. Detailed guidelines are available at: www2.hse.ie/services/schemes-allowances/medical-cards/applying/assessment/.

Persons aged 70 or older are assessed under medical card income thresholds which are based on gross income. However, it should be noted that those aged over 70 can also be assessed under the general means tested scheme where there are particularly high costs, e.g., medication, nursing home fees.

Every effort is made by the HSE, within the framework of the legislation, to support applicants in applying for a medical card and, in particular, to take full account of any difficult circumstances in the case of applicants who may be in excess of the income guidelines. In such circumstances, the HSE may exercise discretion and grant a medical card, for example:

• Discretionary medical cards issued to patients with significant medical expenses but who do not satisfy the means test.
• Emergency medical cards are issued to patients that are terminally ill, or are seriously ill, and in urgent need of medical care that they cannot afford.

• since 2015, every individual aged 70 and over has automatic eligibility for a GP visit card
• under the Long-Term Illness Scheme, patients receive drugs, medicines, and medical and surgical appliances directly related to the treatment of their illness, free of charge.
• under the Drugs Payment Scheme (DPS) no individual pays more than €80 a month towards the cost of approved prescribed medicines. The DPS is not means tested and is available to anyone ordinarily resident in Ireland. The DPS significantly reduces the cost burden for families and individuals with ongoing expenditure on medicines.
• Individuals may also be entitled to claim tax relief on the cost of qualifying health expenses, including medicines prescribed by a doctor, dentist, or consultant. Relief is at the standard tax rate of 20%.

• In 2023, GP visit card means-tested eligibility was extended to those who earn up to the median household income
• GP visit card eligibility was extended from all children under 6 to children under 8, and
• Public in-patient charges in public hospitals were abolished.