Minister for Health clarification of medical card criteria issue

The Irish Cancer Society has sought assurances from the Minister for Health, Dr. James Reilly, that no change to the criteria for discretionary medical cards has occurred. We are satisfied that comments in the Oireachtas Health Committee last week, as reported, created some confusion and worry to cancer patients and their families. Therefore, we want to reassure anyone who is worried about a medical card application that the process has not changed. If you remain concerned please call the National Cancer Helpline on Freefone 1800 200 700.

Below is the information Minister Reilly’s spokesperson has provided us with:

A national newspaper last Thursday printed the following headline: "No medical cards for cancer victims unless terminally ill".

The headline is not correct.

The Minister for Health has not suggested that. The HSE has not suggested that.

That article and others which also have inaccuracies, flow from a meeting of the Health Committee in the Dáil last Wednesday.

At the meeting members of the committee expressed concern about the availability of Discretionary Medical Cards.

Minister Reilly advised the Committee that since he had become minister he had required of the HSE to tackle that problem.

He said that under the old health board system the CEO of the Health Board was the person who exercised the discretionary power.

He asked the HSE to establish an architecture to make certain that Discretionary Cards were properly and effectively handled. He also said that the grouping should be doctor-led and involve doctors regionally to ensure that medical needs were fully understood.

Also at the meeting was Laverne McGuinness of the HSE. It appears that Ms McGuinness' comments to the Committee have been misunderstood. The Irish Independent of last Thursday said "The HSE official said somebody with cancer was not entitled to a discretionary medical card and it would only be given to somebody with a terminal diagnosis".

Again this is not the case. Here is a precise comment from Laverne McGuinness to the Committee

"A person isn't AUTOMATICALLY entitled to a card...a Medical Card, if they have...or a Discretionary Medical Card... if they have cancer.

It must be....and if they're over the financial threshold... they are if it's life limiting.

You know we can grant a card within a 24 hour period as an Emergency Medical Card for a period of six months."

Ms McGuinness' comment is clear, that someone is not automatically entitled to a Discretionary Card.

During her appearance at the committee Laverne McGuinness made clear that if someone is under the threshold they get a Medical Card or a GP Visit Card. If they have a terminal diagnosis they are entitled to an Emergency Medical Card which can be obtained in 24 hours and nothing prevents a person over the threshold from applying for a Discretionary Medical Card.

Laverne McGuinness made all this clear on the RTE News at One on Friday and later that day Minister Reilly repeated that clearly to journalists in a doorstep.

Please find below a sound file of Minister Reilly - with an excerpt from the doorstep.