Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 July 2022
513. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Health the estimated cost in 2023 of reducing prescription charges to €1 per item with a cap of €10 for all or to 50 cent per item with a cap of €5 for all; the overall cost of abolishing the charges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38335/22]
View answerThe Health Services (Prescription Charges) Regulations 2020 (S.I. No. 464/2020) reduced prescription charges to €1.50 per item for all eligible persons with a cap of €15 per person or family per month.
The Health Services (Prescription Charges) (Over 70s) Regulations 2020 (S.I. No. 465/2020) reduced prescription charges for medical card holders over 70 to €1.00 per item, with a cap of €10 per person or family per month.
Both reductions were effective from 1 November 2020.
The cost of the proposed reductions for those aged over 70:
The full year minimum cost of reducing the prescription charge to €0.50c for eligible persons over 70 and reducing the monthly cap to €5.00 per person or family, is €12.9m.
The full year minimum cost of abolishing prescription charges for eligible persons over 70 is €25.9m.
The cost of the proposed reductions for those under 70:
The full year minimum cost of reducing the prescription charge to €1 for eligible persons under 70and reducing the monthly cap to €10.00 per person or family, is €8.4m
The full year minimum cost of reducing the prescription charge to €0.50c for eligible persons under 70 and reducing the monthly cap to €5.00 per person or family, is €16.8m.The full year minimum cost of abolishing prescription charges for eligible persons under 70 is €37.7m.
Therefore, the minimum cost of abolishing prescription charges for all eligible persons would be approximately €63.6m.
All of these costings are subject to the following caveats:
The forecasted cost is based on persons with claims submitted in the period to the end of April 2022 and is annualised for a 12-month period to give the annual impact.
The reported cost does not reflect the impact of the increase in eligibility numbers experienced in April 2022 onwards resulting from the Ukrainian Support Programme.
Any reduction in or the removal of prescription charges may result in a change in client behaviour.
