asked the Minister for Health if he will consider extending the long term illness card scheme to cover asthmatics.
Written Answers. - Long Term Illness Card Scheme.
204.
At present some 40 per cent of asthma patients are covered by medical cards and therefore receive all their prescribed drugs and general practitioner services entirely free of charge. Significant ongoing medical expenses are reckoned in determining eligibility for medical card cover.
It is not possible at present to contemplate any extension of the long-term illness scheme as this could only be achieved through the diversion of resources from other essential services.
Persons whose income precludes such eligibility can avail of the drugs refund scheme. This scheme ensures that net expenditure on prescribed drugs and medicines for an individual or a family does not exceed £28 per month. Patients pay the full cost to the pharmacist and the balance in excess of £28 recouped to them by the health board.
A new drug cost subsidisation scheme will be introduced shortly for persons who have an ongoing and continuous requirement for prescribed medication due to a long term condition. The scheme will provide that such persons will not have to spend more than £28 in any month at the pharmacy counter. Any expenditure in excess of that amount will be claimed by the pharmacist from the GMS (Payments) Board.