Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 June 2014
592. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Health if he will provide details on how quickly the medical cards that were taken away from persons who needed them will be restored following the Government's decision to withdraw the review of discretionary medical cards; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26964/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Government recognises that the current eligibility system for health services, which has been in place since 1970, is based on primarily financial criteria. Therefore, the Government has decided to develop a policy framework for providing eligibility for health services on the basis of medical conditions, including new legislation as appropriate, and a HSE clinical expert group is to examine the range of conditions that should be considered as part of this process. The group has been asked to make an early report to the Minister for Health in the autumn.
The Government was very concerned about the potential impacts on the health of persons with serious illnesses whose discretionary medical cards and GP visit cards were refused renewal since the centralisation of medical card assessment in 2011. Therefore, in the context of the above eligibility policy development, the Government decided that medical cards and GP visit cards are to be issued to persons with a serious medical condition (or disability) who had the renewal of their discretionary card refused by the HSE, having completed an eligibility review during the period from 1 July 2011 to 31 May 2014.
The HSE is currently identifying these people to activate their eligibility status. The HSE intends to have contacted all of the relevant persons over the next few weeks. If people do not hear from the HSE by mid July, they should contact the HSE on its LoCall contact number: 1890 25 29 19.
