Vol. 496 No. 4
234 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Health and Children the average delay in the payment of drug refunds to members of the public under the £90 scheme which is used by his Department in calculating the budgetary requirement for the scheme; the cost to his Department of reducing this delay by four weeks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23139/98]
Under the drug 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 processing of claims for individuals and families under the drug refund scheme is a matter for the chief executive officer of each health board and health boards endeavour to process claims as quickly as possible.
I understand from the health boards that the processing of claims under the drug refund scheme generally takes between four and six weeks. In the case of some health boards, however, the processing procedure may take longer, depending on the number of claims being submitted at any one time and the submission date of claims to the board.
