Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 15 Jun 1999

Vol. 506 No. 2

Written Answers. - Community Drug Schemes.

Nora Owen

Ceist:

283 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Health and Children if his attention has been drawn to the hardship created by the changes in the drugs refund scheme; and the plans, if any, he has to lower the limit which people have to spend, particularly for older people. [15312/99]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

The position is that, with effect from 1 July 1999, the existing drugs cost subsidisation and drug refund schemes will be merged into one new drug payment scheme with a threshold of £42 per month per family unit. Where expenditure by a family or an individual exceeds £42 per month on approved medicines, the balance will be met by the State.

The primary aim of the new drug payment scheme is to bring about important improvements in the existing schemes. The new scheme will effectively merge the best elements of the two existing schemes and is designed to significantly improve the cash flow situation for families and individuals incurring ongoing expenditure on medicines.

The new drug payment scheme is for everyone. To qualify under the old drugs cost subsidisation scheme, patients had to be certified by their doctor as suffering from a condition requiring ongoing expenditure on medicines in excess of £32 per month. There are no qualifying criteria for the new scheme.

Under the drug refund scheme, families and individuals pay the full cost of their prescription medicines and may, at the end of the quarter, claim reimbursement from their health board of expenditure over £90 in that calendar quarter. Many families and individuals have very heavy expenditure on drugs and medicines in a quarter and have to wait a further six weeks from the end of the quarter before they receive a refund. This can cause considerable cash flow problems for a significant number of families and individuals. From the introduction of the new scheme no individual or family will have to pay more than £42 per month for prescribed medicines. It means that families and individuals will for the first time be able to budget for the cost of medicines. Families and individuals will know that, whatever the size of their drugs bill, they will not have to pay more than £42 per month.

With regard to the increase in the threshold from £32 to £42, the position is that there has been no increase in the threshold for the existing schemes since 1991. It must also be borne in mind that the new £42 threshold in respect of the drug payment scheme refers to family expenditure in contrast to the existing £32 threshold in the drug cost subsidisation scheme which relates to individual expenditure. The Government identified in its programme An Action Programme for the Millennium the need to review medical card eligibility for the elderly and large families. I am pleased to say the Government has decided that the income guidelines for entitlement to medical cards for persons aged 70 years or over should be doubled. This improvement, which is being introduced over a three year period, began on 1 March. The income guidelines for those aged 70 to 79 and 80 years and over, which are already higher than the normal guidelines, have increased by one-third, and there will be similar increases in 2000 and 2001.