Middle class lose out in medical card plan

MIDDLE-CLASS parents are being left out of the loop again under Department of Health proposals to allow families write off childcare costs when applying for medical cards.

This was the message from the Labour Party yesterday as it responded to proposals by Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney to determine medical card eligibility on the basis of disposable income rather than net income. Ms Harney believes this is a better indicator of whether a person can afford medical care.

Her spokesman said she is considering allowing “reasonable childcare costs” and travel-to-work expenses to be written off as she believes this would increase the numbers with cards.