Medical card ‘ghost patients’ rise to 40,000

THE number of medical cards held by people who have died or moved away from their health board area has risen to almost 40,000 — up from 25,000 in January.

Payments to doctors for treating these so-called ghost patients is now estimated at €6 million, down from the previous estimate of €12 million, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) heard.

However, the health service was warned about the flaws in the medical card system five years ago when more than 30,000 ‘ghost’ patients were wiped off the list, the public finance watchdog was told yesterday.