asked the Minister for Health if he will arrange that all health authorities should provide medical cards for old age pensioners, both contributory and non-contributory, without a means test.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Issue of Medical Cards.
93.
Health Authorities already grant medical cards automatically on application, to any person receiving a non-contributory old-age pension. Automatic eligibility is acceptable in these instances, as the pensioners have already undergone a means test to qualify for the non-contributory pension.
In the case of a contributory pension, however, there is no means test for the pension and it is not necessary for the person to have retired from work. Accordingly, I do not consider that the automatic award of medical cards to such pensioners would be justified.
Contributory pensioners are frequently granted a medical card after the usual means test to determine if they are able to afford a general practitioner service for themselves or their dependants.
Does the Minister recall that his illustrious predecessor, the late Deputy O'Malley, announced that all old age pensioners should automatically qualify for a medical card? Is the Minister aware of the fact that this statement lodged in the public mind and many people, who are in receipt of contributory old age pensions who are not working and who are entirely dependent on the contributory pension in order to survive, cannot understand why it is, when they apply for cards, they are subjected to rigorous means tests which are by no means uniform throughout the country and, indeed, often appear to be governed by the attitude of individual investigation officers? In the light of that, will the Minister consider again the advisability, as a general principle, of making free health treatment available for contributory old age pensioners, especially bearing in mind the fact that the cost could not be very great?
I will.