The Government has authorised the HSE to issue cards to people who held a medical or GP visit card, issued on a discretionary basis to a person with a serious medical condition, and where the card renewal was refused having completed an eligibility review between 1 July 2011 to 31 May 2014. The HSE has commenced issuing letters to the persons concerned and this process should be concluded by the first two weeks of July.
The issuing of cards to persons affected is based on the following criteria:
- A person must have held a medical or GP visit card during that period, issued on a discretionary basis, but had it withdrawn on foot of a completed eligibility review;
- They must have completed the review process during that period i.e. provided the information and documentation required to assess their eligibility;
- They must have a serious medical condition which required that their case was referred to a Medical Officer as a part of the review process.
It is anticipated that over 15,000 cards will issue to people with serious medical conditions as part of this process. However, until the HSE has completed its examination on a case by case basis, it is not possible to provide a definitive figure.
Furthermore, it is also recognised that a small number of individuals may not have been able to complete their review during this period due to circumstances relating to their medical condition, e.g., hospitalisation during treatment, change of residence during treatment. Therefore, the Director General of the HSE may act, on his own initiative, to take account of an ad misericordiam appeal (an appeal “to pity”) on a case by case basis to issue a discretionary card to such a person that has a serious medical condition.
