Medical card claims backed by charity

A third patient group has warned cutbacks are making it increasingly difficult for seriously ill people to access discretionary medical cards — despite the HSE claiming its policy has not changed.

Speaking to the Irish Examiner, the Jack and Jill Foundation mirrored concerns raised by the Irish Cancer Society and motor neuron disease experts, saying patients who should receive the help are being turned away.

The group’s liaison nurse manager, Sinéad Moran, said discretionary medical cards — which are provided to patients whose income is above regular, medical card thresholds — were in previous years generally available to people facing the most serious illnesses.

However, she said there is growing anecdotal evidence to show the situation has changed in recent months, with some terminally ill children being told they cannot receive vital support.

“I would absolutely agree with what the Irish Cancer Society and others are saying, it is getting very difficult for us to get families of children with life-limiting conditions discretionary medical cards.

“I know of one case recently, which we eventually managed to turn around, where a seven-year-old girl was refused a discretionary medical card twice.

“This girl was being sent home for palliative care, she had an undiagnosed, global developmental delay, so was severely handicapped, was tube-fed and had to have 30 hours of home nursing care. And she was turned down twice. It’s becoming a massive issue. In the past we could resolve the most pressing cases locally, but the medical card system is centralised now and, at times, the needs of the child are being forgotten about.”

Yesterday, cancer patients told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland they have had to fight to receive the help. They included Antoinette Pim, from Glencullen, Co Dublin, who said her 13-year-old son Jamie has been told he is not guaranteed a discretionary medical card despite suffering from leukaemia.

“Jamie did ask me when he was first diagnosed after a couple of months was he going to die, because people with cancer die. Sometimes it is very difficult,” she said.

On Monday, Beaumont consultant neurologist Prof Orla Hardiman said she was aware of identical problems among motor neuron disease sufferers.

“It was never entirely a foregone conclusion that people with motor neurone disease would get medical cards, but during the boom time we were generally able to obtain cards for people on compassionate grounds by writing letters.

“What has happened now is the process we used in the past often does not result in awarding of a medical card. Unfortunately for the patients, what they are experiencing is not what the HSE has stated as policy.”

Since 2010, the number of people receiving discretionary medical cards has slumped by more than 25%.

In Dec 2010, 80,709 people received the help, falling to 74,281 by Dec 2011, to 63,126 by Dec 2012, and to 59,000 by the end of June.

No information is yet available on whether the fall-off is because there are fewer patients or because an increasing number of applications are being rejected.

Despite the concern, the HSE said there has been no change in policy regarding discretionary medical cards.

It said applications are based on need, and that discretionary medical cards are provided based on social and medical issues which may cause those involved “undue hardship”.