Cowen apologises for distress but persists with medical card plan

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen has apologised for the distress caused to elderly people by the medical card fiasco, but is persisting with the government’s plan to end the automatic entitlement to cards for over-70s.

However, Mr Cowen is revising the proposed eligibility criteria so that more over-70s will qualify for cards. The Taoiseach announced the partial, yet significant, climb down at a press conference in Government Buildings yesterday, accompanied by Health Minister Mary Harney and Green party leader and Environment Minister John Gormley.

Under the revised plan, the income thresholds will be widened to gross income of €700 a week for a single person and €1,400 for a couple.

According to the Government, 95% of existing card holders will fall within those thresholds and will retain their cards.

The remaining 5% will be asked to voluntarily inform the Health Service Executive that they are over the income thresholds, and will face losing their cards at the end of December.

There will be no means testing of existing card holders, with the Government relying on people’s honesty to state if they are over the thresholds, although Ms Harney suggested the State would have “control measures” open to it to prevent abuse of the scheme.

All applicants for medical cards from January 1 next will face a means test.

Speaking at the press conference, Mr Cowen said he was “very confident” that the revised proposals would “meet with the approval” of the parliamentary party.

However, he refused to accept that the Government had caved in on the issue, saying: “I don’t accept that there is a collapse.”

The Government had simply found a more acceptable set of proposals that would still produce the requisite budgetary savings, he indicated.

“I’m glad that we have been able to find a solution that maintains the integrity of the decision announced in the budget to end universality as it applies to medical cards as the system was, over the medium term, unsustainable.”

However, he acknowledged the “anxiety” which the Government’s handling of the issue had caused elderly people. “Obviously, I very much regret that and apologise for it,” he said.