Vol. 429 No. 8
98 Mr. Nealon asked the Minister for Health if he intends to change the regulations so that all people over the age of 75 years would be entitled to medical cards without being subjected to the usual guidelines operated by the health boards; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Under the Health Act, 1970, medical cards are issued to persons who, in the opinion of the Chief Executive Officer of the appropriate health board are unable, without undue hardship, to provide general practitioner services for themselves and their dependants.
Income guidelines are available to assist Chief Executive Officers in the determination of a person's eligibility and these guidelines increase according to the person's age. However, these guidelines are not statutorily binding and even though a person's income exceeds the guidelines, that person may still be awarded a medical card if the Chief Executive Officer considers that the person's medical needs or other circumstances would justify this.
Due to the higher income guidelines for persons aged over 65, and due to the discretionary powers of the Chief Executive Officers in dealing with individual cases, the percentage of pensioners who hold medical cards is in the region of 82 per cent.
I have given the matter raised by the Deputy very careful consideration and I would of course be anxious that every person who is in genuine need of a medical card should receive one. I believe, however, that it is best to rely on the careful consideration of individual cases by the health boards rather than to grant an automatic entitlement to any particular group without any reference to their means.
