Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 25 Jun 1996

Vol. 467 No. 4

Written Answers. - Long-Term Illness Card.

Noel Ahern

Ceist:

90 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Health the history and number of illness covered by the long-term illness card; when the last illness or category was added to this list; the number of illness that are currently under serious consideration for inclusion on the list; if he will include persons who have received liver or other transplants and who will be taking anti-rejection drugs for life; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13272/96]

Minister for Health (Mr. Noonan,

Limerick East): The long-term illness scheme had its origins in an ad hoc non statutory scheme for the free supply of certain requisites for the treatment of diabetes, to diabetics who were not medical card holders. This early scheme was established in mid-1967 by administrative action. Subsequently, section 59 (3) of the Health Act, 1970 provided that health boards shall “make arrangements for the supply without charge of drugs, medicines or medical and surgical appliances to persons suffering from a prescribed disease or disability of a permanent or longterm nature”. The long-term illness scheme came into operation in late 1971. Statutory regulations of 1971 and 1975 specify the 15 conditions covered under this scheme. These are: mental handicap; mental illness, for persons under 16 only; phenylketonuria; cystic fibrosis; spina bifida; hydrocephalus; diabetes mellitus; diabetes insipidus; haemophilia; cerebral palsy; epilepsy; multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophies; parkinsonism and acute leukaemia.

Persons who suffer from any of those illnesses are entitled to free drugs and medicines which are prescribed in respect of the particular illness. This scheme has not been extended since 1975 and there are no plans to extend the scheme having regard to the support which is being provided by the State through the existing range of drug schemes to those with medical expenses such as the life long requirement for anti-rejection drugs.

The long-term illness scheme is only one of a number of schemes in operation which provide assistance towards the cost of prescribed drugs and medicines for persons with ongoing medical conditions.

Persons who suffer from an ongoing medical condition can avail of the drug cost subsidisation scheme which caters for people who do not have a medical card or a long-term illness book and are certified by their general practitioner as having a long-term medical condition with a regular and ongoing requirement for prescribed drugs and medicines. Persons who qualify for inclusion in this scheme will not have to spend more than £32 in any month on prescribed medication.

Under the drugs refund scheme, which covers expenditure by the whole family, any expenditure on prescribed medication above £90 in a calendar quarter is refunded by the health board.

In addition to the above schemes, where an individual or a family is subjected to a significant level of ongoing expenditure on medical expenses, general practitioner fees, prescribed drugs etc. due to a long-term medical condition, these expenses may be reckoned in determining eligibility for a medical card. In some cases a medical card may issue to a family member on a personal basis. Eligibility for a medical card is solely a matter for the chief executive officer of the relevant health board to decide.

Accordingly, I am satisfied that appropriate and comprehensive support is being provided by the State through an existing range of drug schemes to those in the community with long-term medical conditions.