Who will pay for medical card U-turn - and why now?

DOCTORS and campaigners have questioned how the Government intends to pay for its U-turn on medical cards. They have also called into question the motives for this week’s sudden change of heart.

It was announced this week that new laws around medical cards are planned. Previously cards could only be granted where it was deemed there was a financial need.

However, now an expert panel will draw up a list of illnesses which will automatically qualify the sufferer for a

General Election could be a year away

medical card, regardless of their or their family’s income.

The Coalition’s drubbing in the recent local elections has left backbenchers eyeing the next general election with fear – and this rowback is being seen by some as the first step in clawing back some favour.

Comments from the HSE and Health Department have caused doctors to wonder where exactly the money for this planned extension will be sourced.

The HSE originally planned to save €23m in a drastic sweeping cull of medical cards. This was after battling to reduce the required saving from an original request to save €113m.

Chris Goodey, head of the National Association for GPs, said yesterday he is very pleased that the removal of medical cards is being reversed, but he has reservations as to how it will work.

‘It just seems quite bizarre. I am very interested to see where the money is going to come from. It’s pre-election, of course. We are only potentially a year or, at maximum, two years away from an election. We will start seeing all sorts of give-aways.

‘It is bizarre to me that this was necessary two years ago and this is what GPs were calling for – to prioritise need, to prioritise chronic disease, the more vulnerable in society, instead of giving cards to the healthy,’ he said.

Just two years ago the Government planned to introduce free GP care for those with long-term illnesses, but was advised this was not possible. Instead, it controversially targeted all children under-6 as the first group to get free GP care.

Following a meeting between children’s lobby group Our Children’s Health and Primary Care Minister Alex White and Health Minister James Reilly on Friday, it emerged that the criteria for medical card eligibility could be far broader than first envisaged.

HSE boss Tony O’Brien told the group he hopes the eligibility list could take account of a condition’s characteristics as well as a core list of illnesses.

About two million people hold a medical card and it is not yet clear how many more may qualify if Mr O’Brien’s plans come to fruition.

Lorraine Dempsey, from the Special Needs Parents Association, welcomed the addition of rare diseases expert Professor Eileen Treacy on the HSE’s expert panel –which will draw up the eligibility list.

But Ms Dempsey warned yesterday: ‘A list-based sys-

We wanted this change two years ago

tem won’t take into account people being diagnosed, or those who have Syndromes Without A Name. And we have to be sure there is a method where the levels of medical need will be taken into account in the absence of an actual diagnosis.

‘We would have to be careful that we don’t get into the box- ticking system we are trying to get away from.’

Ms Dempsey said cards give families access to prohibitively expensive equipment such as wheelchairs. Families who may seem well-off lose out when faced with a €30,000 bill for adapting their home, she said.

The Long Term Illness Scheme supports families who don’t qualify for a card, but only if the illness is one of a list of 16 conditions. Physical disability is not on that list.

Mr Goodey called for responsibility for the debacle to be shared equally between the two Health Ministers.

‘I believe Alex White should take equal responsibility along with James Reilly in relation to this whole fiasco. He has been pushing the Under-6 free care at the same time as taking cards away from the more vulnerable in our society.

‘The Primary Care Reimbursement Scheme is responsible for taking people’s cards, and he is head of Primary Care. Why is James Reilly taking all the flak?’