asked the Minister for Health the average spending incurred including in-patients and all other services per person covered by the medical card in each of the past five years.
Written Answers. - Medical Card Expenditure.
133.
The information requested by the Deputy is not available. Per capita expenditure in respect of persons covered by medical cards is only available in relation to the choice of doctor scheme. Average costs in hospitals are derived by dividing total cost by total bed-days. Information is not available regarding the proportion of bed-days applicable to particular eligibility categories.
Non-personal health services, such as health education, prevention of infectious disease and hygiene standards are, of course, for the benefit of the population at large. It is not appropriate, therefore, to attempt to break down these costs on an eligibility category basis.