Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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463. To ask the Minister for Health the current income thresholds used for assessing medical card eligibility for persons aged 70 years and over; when they were last reviewed; and the evidence base used in that review. [68708/25]

Ken O'Flynn (Cork North-Central, Independent Ireland Party)
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464. To ask the Minister for Health if her Department has conducted any assessment of whether the current income thresholds for over-70s are aligned with the cost of living for that age group; and if she will provide details of any such assessment. [68709/25]

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 463 and 464 together.

Eligibility for a Medical Card is primarily based on a financial assessment which is conducted by the HSE in accordance with the Health Act 1970 (as amended). The HSE assesses each medical card 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 70 or older are assessed under the over 70s 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 medical costs. In November 2020, the weekly gross medical card income thresholds for those aged 70 and over were increased to €550 per week for a single person and €1,050 for a couple.

It is important to acknowledge that the administration of medical card exists within a wider eligibility framework, and that a range of other measures have also been implemented over recent years to help increase access to and the affordability of healthcare services, for example:

• 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.
• 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.
• Public in-patient charges in public hospitals have been abolished.
• 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%.