€80 hospital charges scrapped for children

Nightly inpatient fee to end from today for under-16s

CHILDREN under 16 will no longer have to pay hospital inpatient charges from today following a proposal from Health Minister Stephen Donnelly.

The Fianna Fáil TD said that the move is ‘focused towards easing the financial burden of parents or guardians’.

The removal of inpatient fees comes following legislation passed by the Dáil and Seanad before the summer recess.

Mr Donnelly brought a memo to Cabinet in April and June calling for the statutory inpatient charge of €80 per day to be abolished. While this fee was capped, parents faced having to pay up to €800 a year in inpatient charges for children under the age of 16.

Government sources said last night that the measure is part of the Government’s attempt to make healthcare more affordable.

Mr Donnelly said the removal of inpatient fees was a ‘significant’ change that could help ease financial pressure on families during the cost-of-living crisis.

‘Better access, together with affordability and improved quality are among my top priorities in healthcare,’ he said.

‘This significant change to healthcare provision in Ireland is focused towards easing the financial burden of parents or guardians when bringing their child to hospital for inpatient care.

‘In the context of current costof-living challenges, this is another important commitment by Government towards affordability, as it will make our public hospitals free for children when they require access to treatment as a public patient.’

Mr Donnelly and the Coalition have also committed to the introduction of free GP care for children aged six and seven this year. It is understood negotiations are under way with the Irish Medical Organisation to allow for the introduction of the service.

The decision to abolish inpatient charges for children under 16 is one of several measures recently introduced by the Government to make healthcare more affordable.

As part of the Government’s cost-of-living package unveiled earlier this year, the threshold for the Drugs Payment Scheme was reduced from €100 to €80. Before last year’s Budget, the monthly cut off was €114.

Changes aimed at improving the viability and sustainability of the Dental Treatment Services Scheme (DTSS) for medical cardholders also came into effect from May 1.

Last week, Mr Donnelly announced the rollout of free contraception for women between the ages of 17 and 25. This includes the contraceptive pill, the coil and the contraceptive implant, also known as the bar.

Fees for appointments associated with contraception were also scrapped under the plan. The scheme will cost the State €31million a year.

While the plan was broadly welcomed, there was some criticism of the fact that only women between the ages of 17 and 25 are eligible.

Speaking at a press conference, Mr Donnelly said that he would like to see the scheme extended to both younger and older women.

‘I’d like to see progress made year on year,’ he said. ‘I think we have to keep up momentum on this. This is very much meant to be a first step.

‘Women over the age of 25 or under the age of 17 can very reasonably say “Well, this is great, but what about us? When will we have access?”’

‘Easing the financial burden of parents’