asked the Minister for Health if he will indicate the items reckonable as income in the determination of eligibility for the medical card scheme; and if he will indicate the items which can be regarded as expense on the applicant's part in order to determine the net income on each application.
Written Answers. - Medical Card Scheme.
666.
Medical cards are issued to persons who are unable without undue hardship to provide general practitioner services for themselves and their dependants. The issue of a medical card is a matter for determination by the chief executive officer of the appropriate health board who has regard to all circumstances, relating to both income and expenditure, which may be relevant to eligibility.
Income guidelines have been drawn up to assist chief executive officers in determining applications for medical cards and to ensure uniformity of decisions between the eight health board areas. For the purposes of these guidelines account is taken of all income of the applicant and of his or her spouse with certain exceptions such as children's allowances. Allowance is made for the marital status of the applicant and for the number of dependants differentiating between those aged under and over 16 years of age. There is a special age allowance for persons over 66 years of age and this allowance is increased for persons over 80 years. There is also an allowance for fixed outgoings on the house and for expenses necessarily incurred in travel to work.
667.
asked the Minister for Health if he will indicate the following in relation to medical card holders in each health board area for each of the past three years: (1) the number of medical card holders in each health board area; (2) the percentage of population eligible for coverage under the scheme; and (3) the number of reviews that have taken place and the number of cards withdrawn as a result of each such revision.
The numbers and percentages requested are set out in the following table:
|
Health Board |
Number of Medical Card Holders 31st December |
% of Population* Covered by Medical Cards 31st December |
||||
|
1981 |
1982 |
1983 |
1981 |
1982 |
1983 |
|
|
Eastern |
170,873 |
188,806 |
201,448 |
22.73 |
25.15 |
27.27 |
|
Midland |
48,109 |
50,493 |
52,217 |
43.96 |
45.30 |
46.68 |
|
Mid-Western |
62,262 |
65,114 |
65,151 |
35.04 |
35.49 |
34.96 |
|
North-Eastern |
63,387 |
66,734 |
69,818 |
40.72 |
41.78 |
43.63 |
|
North-Western |
64,940 |
67,075 |
69,633 |
60.23 |
58.02 |
59.76 |
|
South-Eastern |
90,077 |
94,001 |
95,596 |
42.47 |
44.17 |
45.30 |
|
Southern |
110,080 |
117,494 |
124,159 |
32.88 |
35.28 |
37.96 |
|
Western |
104,263 |
106,493 |
112,916 |
54.01 |
54.79 |
57.48 |
|
Total |
713,991 |
756,210 |
790,938 |
35.65 |
36.77 |
38.30 |
* Note: The populations of the health boards are those counted in the 1981 census of population. The total population for the country for 1982 and 1983 are the official Central Statistics Office estimates.
Medical cards are generally issued for a specific period and are reviewed before the end of this period. Reviews therefore take place on an on-going basis. It is not possible to state the number of reviews that have taken place or the number of medical cards withdrawn as a result of such reviews.