Inpatient charges

Inpatient charges are paid by people without a medical card and private health insurance who need an overnight stay in a public hospital or receive treatments in day ward.

This affects cancer patients significantly because every time they need to go for treatment, they pay €80. This is up to a maximum of €800 for 10 visits in a consecutive twelve-month period.

As most courses of chemotherapy and radiotherapy need more than 10 visits, most patients will pay €800.  While the €800 cap limits the impact of the charge slightly, these charges can be crippling for families struggling to make ends meet while also trying to cope with the physical and emotional impact of cancer.

It’s also come to our attention that a number of patients who haven’t yet paid their inpatient charges have had these charges referred to debt collection agencies.

We believe it’s unacceptable that cancer patients are being subjected to high charges and unfair pursuit of their debt for basic treatment, while they have a number of other new expenses that arise as a result of treatment.

Currently, under the HSE’s financial regulations, if patients don’t, or can’t, pay the charges within 47 days, their case can be referred by the hospital to debt collection agencies.

This is a frightening prospect for many cancer patients at a vulnerable time in their lives, especially when they are contending with a number of personal, physical and financial challenges.

You should, as a first port of call, contact the finance manager, in patient accounts, at the hospital where you are receiving treatment to discuss these charges. If you don’t know how to find this out, a medical social worker in the hospital may be able to assist in contacting them. 

Alternatively, if you are having treatment at one of the 13 hospitals the Irish Cancer Society has Daffodil Centres, our trained cancer nurses and volunteers will be able to assist. You can also contact our Cancer Nurseline at 1800 200 700 to talk to cancer nurse.

In some cases of “excessive hardship”, hospitals can waive inpatient charges. Unfortunately, there are no clear guidelines on this. We know that many finance managers can also agree payment plans with patients.

You should not ignore any bills, but try to engage with the hospital’s finance manager and the medical social worker team.

We know from speaking with hospital staff and hospital medical social workers that often finance departments are willing to engage, even after your debt has been referred to a collection agency.  So, if you haven’t already spoken with a finance manager in your hospital, this should be your first action.

We have heard from patients that they have been subjected to multiple letters and automated phone calls from debt collection agencies, and this can be quite intimidating.

While agencies can pursue debt, they cannot make demands that are so frequent as to be judged to subject you or a member of your family to alarm, distress or humiliation, or which:

• Falsely represent that criminal proceedings will happen if you don’t pay your debt.
• Falsely represents that a debt collector is authorised in some official capacity to enforce payment.
• Utters a document falsely represented to have an official character.

If this more extreme behaviour does occur, you should report the matter to an Garda Síochána.

If you do not reach an arrangement with the finance department at your treating hospital, a Free Legal Advice Centre can offer practical support in dealing with debt collectors, if an agency continues to pursue you.