Vol. 539 No. 3
82 Ms McManus asked the Minister for Health and Children his response to the Ombudsman's statement to the Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children that, in his view, all people with medical cards were entitled to institutional longstay care for elderly or disabled free of charge; his policy in relation to this matter, especially in view of the planned extension of medical cards to all those over 70; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19195/01]
Charges can be made under two sets of regulations in respect of long-stay or extended care. They can be made under the Health (Charges for In-Patient Services) Regulations, 1976, as amended by the Health (Charges for In-Patient Services) (Amendment) Regulations, 1987. These regulations enable charges to be made towards the cost of providing hospital in-patient services for persons with income who have been in receipt of such services for more than 30 days or for periods totalling more than 30 days within the previous 12 months. Medical card holders and persons with dependants are exempt from these charges.
The practice has been that persons in health board long stay care have not usually held medical cards as the board meets the cost of all of the person's health needs and, thus, the person ceases to qualify for a medical card in accordance with criteria laid down in section 45 of the Health Act, 1970. With regard to the extension of medical cards to over 70s my Department is examining the implications of this with a view to ensuring an equitable situation is in place in relation to the application of charges in respect of long stay or extended care.
Charges may also be made under the Institutional Assistance Regulations, 1965 where the patient receives "shelter and maintenance" rather than treatment. These charges apply from the date of admission and are payable by all patients who are in receipt of incomes, including medical card holders and persons with dependants.
