The HSE Primary Care Reimbursement Service has, in the period since the centralisation of medical card processing, (1 July 2011 - to-date) received a total of 1,111,023 medical card/GP visit card applications. This total includes both new applications and renewal applications. In this period, 1,049,388 applications have been processed and decisions issued to the applicants concerned. This figure represents an overall 98.52% completion rate for the total number of applications received. Of the applications processed, 90.81% of these applications were processed within 15 days of the application having been received by the HSE.
A total of 34,065 review notifications were issued by the HSE in the month ending 30 September 2013. There are currently 16,483 returned applications (as at 01/11/2013) in process. Persons will continue to have eligibility extended pending the outcome of the review assessment, as will their dependants, if applicable, provided:
- they have returned the review form within the time specified, and
- they are engaging with the HSE in enabling their review assessment to complete.
If a person is a new applicant presenting with an urgent medical need or an urgent medical need in respect of their dependant(s), the HSE will facilitate a prioritised assessment of eligibility, once the applicant has provided all the necessary information.
Again, the HSE is currently operating at a 90.81% completion rate achieved within 15 days of applications being received to the HSE. Applications that remain in process outside of this period of time are facilitated so that eligibility is either retained or assessment prioritised without delay to the applicant who is engaging with the process.
