Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 January 2024
615. Deputy Ivana Bacik asked the Minister for Health the expected uptake for the GP visit cards after the increase in income limits and the actual uptake as of January 2024; his plans to promote the uptake of GP visit cards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2671/24]
View answer616. Deputy Richard Bruton asked the Minister for Health if he will indicate the number of families who are in receipt of GP cards now and how that compares to the level before the means limit was increased to the median wage; if he will indicate how this increase compares to his estimate of how many extra families would become eligible as a result of the change in the means test, and if he considers that a large number may be failing to claim their entitlement. [2695/24]
View answerAs provided for by Budget 2023 and under the GP Agreement 2023, GP visit card eligibility was extended to all those who earn up to the median household income fully from the 13th of November, following the first phase of extension from the 11th of September 2023. GP visit card eligibility was also extended to all children under the age of 8 from the 11th of August 2023.
As of August 1st last, prior to the commencement of either expansion, there were 1,602,093 medical card holders and 552,904 GP visit card holders. As of the first of January, there are now 1,611,187 medical card holders and 630,475 GP visit card holders. It was estimated that approximately 430,000 persons would become eligible for a GP visit card under the median income expansion.
Approximately 15,000 GP visit cards have been issued under the income-based expansion as of the 11th of January. While the eligibility expansion to the median household income was only fully rolled out from mid November, and it is to be expected that eligible persons will take time to complete the process, I recognise that the number of cards issued to date is not on the scale that might have been anticipated.
The expansion was accompanied by an extensive and wide-ranging public information campaign to encourage eligible persons to take up the cards; this campaign was adjusted to provide additional clarity around those who could be eligible from mid-December, and remains underway. The HSE are currently undertaking research to seek to ascertain why potentiallly eligible individuals have not applied for GP Visit Cards on the scale anticipated and future actions to encourage uptake will be informed by the outcome of that research.
