Written Answers. - Drugs Refund Scheme.
Liam Burke
Question:
280
Mr. L. Burke
asked the
Minister for Health and Children
if he will bring back the monthly scheme for the refund of drugs and increase the rate to £35 or £40 monthly in view of the fact that the current three monthly scheme is causing financial problems to many and once the refunds are submitted to the health board a further delay of four to five weeks takes places before the refund is paid; whether the high tech drug scheme will be retained under the drug cost subsidisation scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[18488/97]
Under the drugs refund scheme which covers expenditure by the whole family, any expenditure on prescribed medication above £90 for use in a calendar quarter is refunded by the health board. The position is that it is not intended to amend the operation of the drugs refund scheme in its current form having regard to the fact that the needs of individuals with significant or ongoing medical expenses are met by a range of other schemes which provide assistance towards the cost of prescribed drugs and medicines.
The drug cost subsidisation scheme caters for people who do not have a medical card or a long-term illness book and are certified as having a medical condition with a regular and on-going requirement for prescribed drugs and medicines. Persons who qualify for inclusion in this scheme will not have to spend more than £32 in any month on prescribed medication. They pay that amount to their pharmacist who claims the balance from the General Medical Services (Payments) Board thus eliminating the question of a waiting period for patients under the drugs refund scheme.
The long-term illness scheme entitles persons who suffer from certain specified illnesses to free drugs and medicines which are prescribed in respect of a particular illness. The illnesses covered under this scheme are: mental handicap; mental illness, (for persons under 16 only); phenylketonuria; cystic fibrosis; spina bifida; hydrocephalus; diabetes mellitis; diabetes insipidus; haemophilia; cerebral palsy; epilepsy; multiple sclerosis; muscular dystrophies; parkinsonism and acute leukaemia.
Where an individual or a family is subjected to a significant level of on-going expenditure on medical expenses, such as general practitioner fees or prescribed drugs due to a long-term medical condition, these expenses may be reckoned in determining eligibility for a medical card. Eligibility for a medical card is solely a matter for the chief executive officer of the relevant health board to decide.
Persons who are prescribed one or more of the medicines listed under the high tech medicinal products scheme receive these medicines having regard to the terms and conditions governing their current eligibility status i.e. persons who hold a medical card receive their high tech medication free of charge. Persons who hold a long-term illness card are supplied with their high tech medication free of charge, where it is prescribed for the treatment of the primary condition included on the long-term illness scheme.
Persons who do not qualify for either a medical card or a long-term illness card and are prescribed high tech medication, will qualify for a drug cost subsidisation scheme card. Such persons will not, therefore, have to pay more than £32 per month to their community pharmacist.
