Vol. 567 No. 5
335 Ms O. Mitchell asked the Minister for Health and Children if his attention has been drawn to the fact that persons in long-term and respite care accommodation are required to surrender their pension books to the management of the facility; and if this is common practise. [14465/03]
Charges in respect of long-stay or extended care can be made under two sets of regulations. 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. The regulations provide that a charge is made at a rate not exceeding the person's income. Medical card holders and persons with dependants are exempt from these charges.
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.
In deciding the amount to be contributed, health boards have regard to the person's individual circumstances. Allowance is made for any financial commitments the person may have and a reasonable amount is left to meet the person's personal needs. Charges may be waived if, in the opinion of the chief executive officer of the appropriate health board, payment would cause undue hardship.
I understand that, for administrative purposes, a patient may opt to appoint the health board as an agent to collect their pension.
