'Bad deal to blame for huge medical card earnings'
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.
"In order to pay for his (Health Minister Micheál Martin) mistake, including his under-calculating the numbers of over-70s who would qualify, almost 100,000 medical cards have been withdrawn in the last two years."
Approximately 2,100 family doctors operate the scheme, and figures contained in the General Medical Services Payments Board annual report reveal that more than 200 doctors were paid in excess of a quarter of a million euros each. Over €400,000 was paid out to seven GPs. Mayo GP and Independent TD Dr Jerry Cowley earned €308,000 from the scheme last year.
Dr Martin Daly, who last week described the income limits for medical card eligibility as "obscene", received €341,000. Dr James Reilly, president of the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), earned €214,000.
Yesterday Dr Reilly defended his earnings under the GMS, claiming it was shared between other members of his practice.
"It is more disingenuity from the minister in trying to assert that individual GPs have received huge sums of money under the GMS. The reality is I have two other full-time doctors in my practice, one part-time doctor, three part-time nurses, three part-time secretaries and a practice manager. On top of them, I have to pay rent, rates and heating and electricity bills."
The money paid for medical card services is calculated per practice, where there may be several GPs working and the surgery's expenses are also taken out of the fees, Dr Reilly said.
Dr Reilly said releasing the figures in the wake of a public row between the IMO and the minister was "a less than subtle attempt to shoot the messenger", a reference to Dr Daly's description of the GMS as "obscene".
"It is disingenuous in the extreme to release the figures in this way in terms of what happened last week," Dr Reilly said.
A spokesperson for the minister said the figures were released every year as a matter of course. She said the minister was again inviting the IMO to the table to review the GMS. Previous invitations had been declined, she said. Dr Reilly said the minister could make the decision to extend the scheme further himself, that IMO involvement was only required to extend the scheme to special groups.
The annual report of the General Medical Services Board, due to be published next week, will also reveal that last year pharmacists received almost €1 billion in fees for product mark-ups and the drugs and medicines distributed.
Dr Thomas Brendan McCarthy, Foxrock, Dublin: €563,000
Dr Brian Meade, Stillorgan, Co Dublin €450,000
Dr Kevin Hardiman, Rooskey, Co Roscommon €448,000
Dr John Casey, Sutton, Co Dublin €414,000
Dr John Lappin, Fairview, Dublin €408,000
Dr Richard Joyce, Gort, Co Galway €406,000
Dr Austin O'Carroll, Mountjoy St, Dublin €402,000
Dr JP Dillon, Waterfall, Co Cork €401,000
Dr Paul Stewart, Falcarragh, Co Donegal €390,000
Dr Donald Brookes, Monkstown, Co Dublin €385,000.
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