Vol. 540 No. 3
177 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Health and Children his views on the £42 per month drugs refund scheme; if he has received many complaints from single person households who complain of being discriminated against; if he will consider any improvements for single person householders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20796/01]
The drugs payment scheme, which was introduced on 1 July 1999, replaced the drug cost subsidisation scheme and the drug refund scheme. Under the current scheme, no individual or family unit pays more than £42 per calendar month towards the cost of approved prescribed medicines. While my Department has received some correspondence regarding the £42 threshold, the number of complaints has been very low when account is taken of the number of people who avail of the scheme. The issue of eligibility for health services is one of the issues to be addressed in the forthcoming health strategy.
