Nursing home residents to pay 50c prescription charge
Nursing Home Ireland asked the minister to exempt nursing home residents from the charge that will be introduced from October 1.
In a letter to NHI’s chief executive, Tadhg Daly, Ms Harney said she did not consider it “appropriate” to exempt nursing home residents from charges at this time. The minister did not give any explanation for her decision, described as “disappointing” by Mr Daly.
The legislation allows the minister to make regulations to exempt other classes of person from charges.
Appealing for the exemption, Mr Daly pointed out that nursing home residents were already contributing 80% of their income to the cost of the care under the nursing home support scheme.
He pointed out that the prescription charge would have to be paid from the 20% of income left for personal items, hairdressing, newspapers, therapies and social programmes.
“It is really another bill that older people will have to pay and we are just wondering where it will end.”
The department confirmed on Monday night that the prescription charge would be introduced on October 1.
It said it was working with the Health Service Executive and the Irish Pharmacy Union to put in place the necessary arrangements for the implementation of the charges.
Mr Daly said the new charge was being introduced in a matter of weeks and people had no idea of the impact it would have.
The department said the total charge per family per month was capped at €10 and the HSE would refund families exceeding the monthly ceiling.
Fine Gael’s spokeswoman for older citizens, Catherine Byrne, said the charge was a tax on ill health.
“This is a direct hit on the elderly and the disabled, the least well off in our society.”
The TD wondered if the minister and her advisers had learnt anything from the experience in the North where prescription charges were abolished last April.
Ms Byrne is also concerned that the legislation gives the minister the power to increase the charge at a future date.
“Why does the Government always target the sickest and most vulnerable? Their priorities are all wrong,” she said.
