Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 September 2013
1448. Deputy Tom Fleming asked the Minister for Health if he will reverse the decision to no longer issue medical cards to cancer patients and patients with other severe illnesses; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37876/13]
View answerUnder the provisions of the Health Act 1970 (as amended), a person has full eligibility for health services, specifically a medical card, where he/she is unable without undue hardship to arrange general practitioner medical and surgical services for him/herself and dependents. The assessment for a medical card is determined primarily by reference to the person's overall financial situation, including the means and expenditure, of the applicant and his or her partner and dependants.
I would like to advise you that, despite recent misinformed comment, there never has been, in line with the legislation, an automatic entitlement to a medical card for persons with cancer (or any other specific illness). Furthermore, I wish to make it clear that the criteria applied to medical card applications by cancer patients has not been amended or reviewed.
While there is no automatic entitlement to a medical card for persons with specific illnesses, the HSE has, however, discretion to award a medical card to avoid undue hardship, even where the person exceeds the income guidelines. At the request of the Minister, the HSE set up a clinical panel to assist in the processing of applications for discretionary medical cards, where a person exceeds the income guidelines but there are difficult personal circumstances, such as an illness. There has been no change in the policy of awarding discretionary medical cards.
The HSE has a system in place for the provision of emergency discretionary medical cards for patients who are seriously ill and in urgent need of medical care that they cannot afford. These are issued within 24 hours of receipt of the required patient details and a letter which confirms the medical condition from a doctor or consultant. With the exception of terminally ill patients, all emergency cards are issued on the basis that the patent is eligible for a medical card on means or undue hardship and will follow up with a full application within a number of weeks of receiving the emergency card. As a result, emergency medical cards are issued to a named individual, with a limited eligibility period of six months.
Medical cards can also be provided on emergency grounds, for a period of six months, where a patient is terminally till. No means test applies and the nature of the terminal illness is not a deciding factor in the issue of an emergency medical card in these circumstances. Given the nature and urgency of the issue, the HSE has appropriate escalation routes to ensure that the person gets the card as quickly as possible.
Furthermore, the HSE ensures that the system responds to the variety of circumstances and complexities faced by individuals in these circumstances.
