'Bad deal to blame for huge medical card earnings'

OPPOSITION parties yesterday blamed a badly negotiated Government contract for doctors' massive earnings under the medical card scheme.

Fine Gael Health spokesperson Olivia Mitchell said the extension of the medical card scheme (GMS) to the over 70s had helped drive GP fees for treatment of card holders to over €300 million.

"We now have the ludicrous situation where doctors receive up to four times more for an over-70s medical card holder than for a means-tested medical card holder," she said.