Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 15 January 2014
780. Deputy Mattie McGrath asked the Minister for Health the reason, contrary to Government policy, medical cards are being reviewed after a period of only six months when it has been clearly stated that this would not occur. [55497/13]
View answerThe HSE has an effective system in place for the provision of emergency medical cards for patients who are terminally ill, or who are seriously ill and in urgent need of medical care that they cannot afford. They are issued within twenty-four hours of receipt of the required patient details and the letter of confirmation of the condition from a doctor or a medical consultant.
With the exception of terminally ill patients, the HSE issues all emergency cards on the basis that the patient is eligible for a medical card on the basis of means or undue hardship, and that the applicant 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.
For persons with a terminal illness, no means test applies. Once the terminal illness is verified by a GP or Consultant, patients are given an emergency medical card for six months. 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. For the purpose of the decision making process for an emergency medical card, in these circumstances, a "terminal illness", or a person who is "terminally ill, is a person who is certified by a Doctor or a Consultant as "terminally ill".
Terminally Ill means that the person is suffering from an illness that will end in death, where there is no possibility of recovery and the person is more likely to die of their illness in the next six months than not.
I note from the details provided by the Deputy that the constituent in question was issued with a medical card for a period of one year (May 2013 to May 2014). The period that this card issued for, i.e. more than six months, would appear to indicate that the medical card application was approved on the basis of either a qualifying means assessment or an assessment of undue financial hardship following consideration of the applicants overall financial, social and medical circumstances presented, rather than following notification of end stage terminal illness.
Persons granted medical cards based on a means assessment or on undue financial hardship grounds are issued medical cards for a duration of one year or more. However, the HSE reserves the right to review eligibility at any point in time to confirm that a person continues to meet the qualifying criteria required to continue holding eligibility.
If the Deputy wishes to provide identifying details (application reference number or PPSN or medical card no.) in respect of the constituent, the subject of his representation, the individual matter of this person’s eligibility can be further examined for direct reply to the Deputy.
